Hello and welcome to another Film Friday!
Last week, we talked about Nashville being organized and compact at the back. While that happened for large stretches of the New England match, all it took was one lapse of concentration for the Revs to take the lead. So, let’s talk about the first goal Nashville conceded in 2023.
Mistakes happen
First, let’s make something clear: it is virtually impossible to have a full game without any defensive mistakes. As you can see, even in the first three games, Nashville made a few errors that created chances for the opposition. They didn’t concede any of them. The only difference there and what happened this time around was that there was no Joe Willis save or a defender able to recover.
Now we can get into the goal itself. Let’s start from the beginning.
When the press doesn’t work
Nashville loses the ball from a throw in, but continues the press. Because of that press you can see Walker Zimmerman higher up the field, retaining the ball from the clearance.
The second time Nashville loses the ball, they have seven players in the Revs side of the pitch. Now, it does take a few passes for New England to get the ball to Jones, and by that time most Nashville players have gone back into position. However, it’s probably not enough time to get fully settled into a shape.
Aggressiveness isn’t always good
Jones drives the ball up the field and plays a regular pass that does not look harmful. Matter of fact, it is actually an inaccurate pass. The issue here is that Bobby Wood has pulled Walker Zimmerman way out of position. Walker is keen on intercepting the ball, but unfortunately seems like he was paying more attention and more focus on Bobby Wood than the ball itself.
This also causes a bit of a shift in Nashville’s shape. Pausing the video here, this is still not necessarily an easy chance. Jack Maher is with Gustavo Bou, but thanks to a couple of skillful moves he gets away from him and creates space to find the shot.
I think Maher could have dealt with the situation a bit better and closed that gap earlier. But he was caught off guard because of Walker’s position and the mishit pass.
Great finish compounds individual errors
Another player to look at here is Joe Willis. While it is an incredible finish, he might be disappointed with himself for letting that one in. Keepers are generally expected to have any shot on the near post covered.
Lastly there’s Shaq Moore. I don’t think a lot of blame can be put on him for keeping Bou onside. Expecting a mishit pass is not something you can really prepare for.
So this goal was a combination of a few Nashville errors, great play by Gustavo Bou, and most importantly some random luck.
Thanks for watching and make sure to tune in next week.
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