TALKING POINTS: #NSHvlou
1) TEMPORARY SETBACK
After dropping last weekend’s contest against Indy Eleven, Louisville City FC has its sights completely forward on Sunday’s contest against Nashville SC, ready to go with a vengeance following the first loss of the season.
The “Boys in Purple” sit second in the Eastern Conference with a game in hand (16 pts) on first-place FC Cincinnati (17) and will return to Nippert Stadium for a second time at the end of May. However, the focus remains completely on Nashville and what the team can do to improve moving forward.
Coach James O’Connor emphasized to the media on Monday how his team is already at work assessing what changes lie ahead:
“When you get a game like that, you want to give a really strong performance and we felt as if we were off. The easy thing for us to do is to give excuses or pass blame but for us, we try and find a reason and sit down and go through it. The guys want to get better, so for us as coaches, it’s important that we spend our time dissecting the game to give good information and making sure the reasons we’re giving them are correct.”
2) INJURIES ABOUND
The injury bug has not been kind to LouCity through the first few weeks of the season but the team refuses to use that as an excuse by any means.
O’Connor also spoke about availability and the adjustments his team will make again to adapt to their current circumstances:
“What we do need to do this week with playing on a Sunday and then in the Open Cup on Wednesday and then the following Saturday, we need to make sure that we manage the players this week. The training load needs to be lighter certainly at the start of the week.”
LouCity won’t enter the historic U.S. Open Cup until Wednesday, May 16 but with three games in a span of six days, fitness and selection will be of paramount importance.
TICKETS: LouCity vs. Atlanta United FC 2 | Saturday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m.
3) LAST TIME AGAINST NASHVILLE SC
Last time the “Boys in Purple” faced Nashville SC, goals from Luke Spencer and Niall McCabe helped guide the team to a 2-0 win over the visitors in the season opener at Slugger Field. Spencer scored the team’s first goal of the season off a Niall McCabe cross 56 minutes in, and McCabe’s tally off an assist by Oscar Jimenez just ten minutes later sealed the result.
O’Connor noted how excited his team is by matches like this and what these matches in close proximity do for his side:
“For us, with Nashville being at home, I’m sure they’ll have a great crowd and it’s another local derby. It’s fantastic that we have this regional rivalry where you’ve got Indy, Cincy, and Nashville, so the rivalries we really look forward to, we’re excited, and it’s a game that we’re looking forward to.”
4) RECORD BREAKER?
Louisville City FC midfielder Niall McCabe has the potential to break one of the most cherished records a player can hold on Sunday. Should McCabe start or feature in the weekend’s match against Nashville SC, he would earn his 76th appearance in a LouCity shirt, taking over the number one spot on the club’s all-time appearance chart in all competitions.
