NASHVILLE, TN - As Nashville SC continue Phase Two of their preseason training camp, assistant coaches are playing a crucial role in the club's preparation for the 2025 season.
SixOneFive Soccer spoke with assistants John Bello and Michael Nsien after training on Tuesday, along with other members of the Nashville media. Below is a full transcript of their conversations.
John Bello
Will Boling [104.5 The Zone]: How are you emphasizing increasing competition for spots this preseason?
John Bello: The catchphrase that we are using is "community and competition". We spent the first few weeks of the preseason building the community of the team, the culture of the team.
Now we're moving very much now into a phase where it's all about competition for spots. We've talked about it a lot with the players, that things that you've done to get into the building aren't gonna be the things that gonna continue to keep you going on the field, right?
Everybody has an opportunity to compete and play for a spot. That's what the message was this week, and so we're pivoting a lot of the training in our approach to the upcoming friendly games as an opportunity to push that a little bit.
Boling: Every group is different when you go from one season to the next, but what about this culture and this group is unique as you guys build it?
Bello: Well, you know, BJ and I came in at the same time in July. And so it was sort of like a reset at that point.
This has been an excellent opportunity for us to establish a ground. We did a foundation then, but now it's even better for us to get more contact time with a full group of players, not in the stress of a season going through the dog days of summer, so to speak, at that time.
We have the time right now that we can build that. So that's what's been really exciting about this group. The start and then their reaction and their response to everything that we've put on them in terms of the demands, both on and off the field, they've been extremely professional. So we've loved what we've seen from the group so far.
Ben Wright [SixOneFive Soccer]: There's clearly a new emphasis on giving young players real minutes. How do you balance wanting to get them on the field and continue their development, while also guarding against rushing them in too early?
Bello: With young players, it's always that it's not a risk, it's just the balance of having to decide when's the right moment for them to be able to do that. For us, that's what the training has really been for. It's used for us to evaluate them and see can they bring that same level every single day like some of the senior pro guys have done for years and years, right?
So they're building a lot of those habits. If we see it consistently enough and we talk about it in the office, we'll find the right opportunity then to give that player the chance to step into a real opportunity and take his moment. But for us, it's just building the habits of those young players to make sure that they have the mentality to go out there and do it against senior players.
Wright: What are some things about the last two-and-a-half weeks that have got you really excited, and what are some areas you really want to work on?
Bello: We've brought in several new players. I think that's been probably the most exciting thing is how those players have gelled with the players that we've kept. There's been some beautiful relationships already developing between players on the field. We're super encouraged by those type of things.
And then as we move forward into this phase, this week is like phase two for us, we'll go back down to Florida, we'll do phase three. We'll continue to sort of build those things, but in combination with our game model and what we want to do when we get to February 22nd with our first game.
So I think we're moving all towards that so far, and that's kind of where we'll hone in. But right now it's been a lot of building those initial relationships and we're very encouraged by that.
Boling: At what point do you start settling on partnerships in different areas of the pitch, versus experimenting with different combinations?
Bello: We're very methodical with how we organize training on a day-to-day basis. We're talking, we discuss – if we're doing a positional game – we discuss relationships with players and who we want to see, and we'll design a whole training where we get guys close to each other so we can evaluate how they play around each other. So the training really gives us the opportunity to do that, and we have a lot of opportunities with leading up to the first game.
So we'll continue to evaluate. I think we won't push something that doesn't work, obviously, but if we see something that has potential or we see something that works very well from the beginning, yeah, we'll make note of that and we'll keep it in our mind as we continue to develop and play with it.
Nick Frazier [102.5 The Game]: What specifically are you hoping to see against Lexington United on Saturday?
Bello: I mean, we've introduced all of our phases of play, or a couple, we're still have a couple left, but we've introduced almost all of our phases of play to these guys. We want to see them to be able to not put it just together in one session, but can they apply the principles that we've asked them to do in the game?
And I think that's what we'll be evaluating, so to speak, as we go into the game in their performance.
Michael Nsien
Wright: What was the process like coming to Nashville and deciding to join BJ Callaghan's staff?
Michael Nsien: I think the first thing to think about was I had an opportunity to assist BJ in the Gold Cup. Being a former head coach myself, I know there's certain aspects about a coach if I was going to assist, and he kind of checked all those boxes for me to work with a head coach, so I'm happy to be here.
Boling: Aside from Callaghan, what about this Nashville project appealed to you?
Nsien: Yeah, you can hear that they're kind of reframing this as "Nashville 2.0". It started as a new franchise, it's kind of going through some changes. And that's an opportunity to prepare here that to really get a grip on things, kind of do it our way.
I think BJ has a great plan. And then the new staff, a lot of new players as well. So it just feels like something refreshing. So it feels like it's new again.
Boling: Tell us about your philosophy as a coach. What are some of the important aspects you believe in personally?
Nsien: I think everyone thinks about kind of their core values and who they are, how those align our coaching staff. We're all aligned without getting the players to also buy into who we are on and off the field. How we conduct ourselves and our mentality and how that relates to the city Just trying to draw all those things together.
Me personally, I'm gonna focus a lot on the defending part. I think there's a mentality that comes with that. We have to think about winning games from a defensive point of view and buying into that in terms of collective effort. So my job would be to motivate players and get them to understand tactically what we want from the defense.
Boling: How important are defenders in this system, not just to defend, but also to take risks and play a major role in possession?
Nsien: I think for the defenders perspective, they have to look at it as opportunity, not risk. If we can draw players in, the more players are coming to the box, that means the less players they get to protect their goal. So that's what we want to think of as an opportunity.
The players need to be comfortable and competent, of course. And then when things don't go well, they can't get rattled. We have to continue along that way. And then for us, it's just an opportunity to form a new mentality about dominating and controlling the game.
Wright: What are some things about the first couple weeks here that have really excited you?
Nsien: The camaraderie. We were away for two weeks, we're back for one week. Some new players will come in, guys like Walker [Zimmerman] and Jeisson [Palacios], some new guys. Walker's not a new guy, but Jeisson, the new guy, coming in and just seeing how all the group works together. You kind of start to see the leadership take hold and who's going to be a part of that. And I think it's up to us to observe who's buying in and making sure everyone's going the right direction. So far, it's been great.
We have another week to prepare, and then we travel for another two weeks. And I think we'll be ready for that season after that.
