Why these 5 players can be X-factors for successful Nashville SC 2025 MLS season

Yahoo

19-02-2025

Nashville SC could have opted for a wholesale teardown when it fired coach Gary Smith in May.
Instead, it hired B.J. Callaghan to replace Smith while keeping its core — designated players Hany Mukhtar, Walker Zimmerman and Sam Surridge — intact. Those three will be leading the team during Callaghan's first full season, which starts Saturday at Geodis Park against the New England Revolution.
When healthy and in full form, all three are proven commodities — Mukhtar was the league's MVP in 2022, Zimmerman is a two-time MLS Defender of the Year, and Surridge led the team in goals in 2024. But whether Nashville returns to the MLS playoffs in 2025 could have as much to do with the players around them.
Here are five potential X-factors with the ability to raise Nashville SC's ceiling:
One of the fastest players in MLS, Shaffelburg has become a standout for the Canadian national team, scoring five goals in 13 games in 2024. The 25-year-old's ability to stretch the field has been essential to Nashville's attack the past two seasons, but his MLS scoring numbers — seven goals in 59 games with NSC — haven't popped off the page.
Callaghan's aggressive approach might help unlock more output in front of goal, as might a positional tweak: During the preseason, Shaffelburg has been used in central positions rather than exclusively out wide.
"Jacob's had a tremendous camp," Callaghan said after Nashville's 3-0 preseason win over Lexington SC on Feb. 1. "He's a menace running behind the back line, but we're trying to make him more unpredictable. If he can also come in the pocket, receive the ball and dribble at the back line, people have to respect that."
While Brugman is dealing with an injury and might not be ready for Saturday, the 32-year-old Uruguayan midfielder, acquired in a December trade with the LA Galaxy, provides a passing element that Nashville has sorely missed.
Brugman was named MLS Cup MVP after delivering the assist on the opening goal of LA's win over the New York Red Bulls, a slick through ball that epitomizes what he can bring to Nashville. He completed 89.4% of his passes in 2024, which ranked 10th among all midfielders in MLS.
The key for Brugman is remaining healthy; he tore his meniscus in 2023. He likely will be relied upon for more starts and minutes than he was with the Galaxy.
Part of Tagseth's appeal is that he can play anywhere across the front line and midfield, and even on defense in a pinch. The 23-year-old had four goals and six assists in 26 games with Norwegian side Rosenborg in 2024, and during the Nashville SC preseason often played as a right-sided midfielder despite being left-footed.
"He's a high-energy player, likes to be on the ball, likes to be between lines," Callaghan said. "A player that can unlock defenses, whether it's on the dribble or passing balls behind the back line. He has a relentless mentality. Without the ball, he's somebody who presses."
Tagseth's player profile reads similarly to that of Alex Muyl, a hardworking, versatile midfield engine who scored four goals in his final eight games under Callaghan last season. While Mukhtar and Surridge should lead Nashville in scoring, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Tagseth ranked right after them.
MORE: Nashville SC signs Ahmed Qasem, 21-year-old midfielder from Sweden
Maher made 32 starts in 2023 for a defense that tied for the fewest goals allowed in MLS, but wasn't able to duplicate that success last season. Against Inter Miami in the CONCACAF Champions Cup on March 13, he was a healthy scratch, with Dan Lovitz, normally a left back, playing in his place at center back along Lukas MacNaughton.
Nashville's defensive numbers dipped — from 32 goals allowed in 2023 to 54 last season — and Maher had to fight off MacNaughton and Josh Bauer for his starting spot at times. The No. 2 pick in the 2020 SuperDraft has the talent to be a lockdown defender and needs to be at his best for Nashville's defense to return to its historic standard.
Nashville doesn't have a wealth of pure strikers. Teal Bunbury returns for a fourth season, and the soon-to-be 35-year-old will serve as Surridge's principal backup. But Bunbury is more of a late-game chess piece than a goal threat: He scored six goals in 58 games the past two seasons.
Could Sipić offer the scoring punch Bunbury doesn't? The 6-foot-1 teenager is strong in the penalty box and scored twice in six preseason games. Sipić occasionally trained with Nashville last season and scored four goals in 19 MLS Next Pro games for Huntsville City FC. This season, Callaghan said he can challenge for a place on the first team.
"We've seen great development on his tactical side, especially working defensively, understanding how to press," Callaghan said. "We still have work to develop him on the ball."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at [e-mail] and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville SC potential X-factors in MLS 2025, with Jacob Shaffelburg