The new season of the MLB kicked off on the 1st, and unlike last season, the MLB added two more teams this season. Miami International and Nashville will be grouped into the Eastern Conference and The Western Conference, respectively, with both leagues combining 13 teams and PSA teams at 26. Nashville is very low-key compared to The Miami International Limelight, where they are in the music city of Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee is the home of Elvis Presley and a mecca for American country music. In Nashville, country music seems to be the city's constant theme. Walking down Broadway in downtown Nashville, surrounded by restaurants and bars, there is a loud music from time to time.
Nashville insignia
In addition to music, people here also love sports. Nashville was founded in December 2017 as a pure fan-built club. Chairman Chris Jones said they were inspired by The United Manchester Club in The United Kingdom to form the club. United is a club that Manchester United fans are unhappy with the club managing their own creation. Nashville originally played in the Middle Tennessee Regional League, starting from the regional league step by step, Nashville appeared in the US Second Division last season, and came to the MLB this year. As a fan team, it is quite successful. Miami International, who came to the MLB at the same time as them, is a team invested by The Little Bay, while Nashville is much more civilian.
In 2017, Nashville received investment from several large local businesses to build the Nashville Fairgrounds, a professional soccer stadium owned exclusively for the team, which has a capacity of 26,500 people and is planned to cost $275 million. Now, the Nashville club has Tennessee Stadium as its home stadium. Nashville's current boss is John Ingle, chairman of tennessee real estate.
Compared with last season in the US Second Division, the team changes in the new season are still very large, and many people in the team have American experience. Head coach Gary Smith focused on filling gaps in the back line, and former Los Angeles FC center back Zimmerman joined for $1.25 million, setting a new league guard transfer fee record. Former Germany U21 international midfielder Mukhtar was poached from Bloomby, but the contract agreed to arrive next January. In addition to the two Germans, the team has an attacking line of four Players of African Descent, including striker Abdanthradi (Ghana), striker Al-Baidi (Senegal), striker Arkham (Ghana) and midfielder Anuga (Cameroon). This is uncommon in mluniversal leagues that love to use Latin American strikers, perhaps because the club's manager, Gary Smith, is a traditional soccer coach from Europe.
Nashville lost in the opener, but there is still plenty to develop
Gary Smith, 51, is a real Arsenal academy producer. He was British and was born in Harlow. He joined arsenal at the age of 14 and then joined the Fulham academy. Although he has been playing in the lower leagues of the United Kingdom for a long time, after retiring from injury in 27 years, he aspired to become a football coach, first obtaining a coaching qualification at UEFA, and then returning to Arsenal in 2007 to become a scout at Wenger, learning coaching experience from him.
In 2008, Gary Smith crossed the ocean to the United States. His arrival in the United States was an opportunity when Arsenal wanted to build a football school in Colorado. The MLB team Colorado Riptides saw his qualifications and abilities and asked him to be the head coach of the first team. In his debut season, Smith took the team to a good 9th place in the league. After three years in charge, he coached at Atalanta B in the US Serie B until he moved to Nashville.
The 59,000 fans on the scene still let the MLB see the appeal of this civilian team
The team now includes Badger, Godoi, McCarty, Lovets and other experienced players, the lineup configuration is not bad, but from the perspective of player value, Nashville in the MLB debut season is still relegation as the goal, the first round of the opponent Atlanta United on the 1st, Nashville lost 1-2 at home, but the scene of 59,000 fans still let the MLB see the appeal of this civilian team.
Red Star News reporter Hu Minjuan compiled the report
Edited by Wang Haoru