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USL Nashville SC

Nashville SC Positional Previews: Forwards

March 1, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Nashville SC News Release


NASHVILLE - The most talked about position for Nashville Soccer Club this offseason was at forward. NSC made three offseason splash signings and also brought back a trio of established forwards from 2018. It all equals up to a deep and dynamic forward group that on paper looks to be among the best in the USL Championship in 2019.

Those who might have missed our previous positional previews can find those here.

Goalkeepers

Defenders

Midfielders

Position in Review

If there was one area of the field to improve this offseason, it was at forward for Nashville SC. While the chances were created, Nashville struggled to finish, ranking tied for 23rd out of 33 USL Championship teams in goals scored in 2018. However, towards the end of the season, Nashville found the back of the net with regularity, scoring 20 goals in its final 10 league games.

The forward group also changed drastically from the beginning of the season to the end. Michael Cox and Robin Shroot started up top for Nashville in its league opener, and by the end of the season, Cox had been traded and Shroot often did not factor into the gameday lineup. By the end of the campaign, Tucker Hume had established himself to lead the line while Ropapa Mensah and Alan Winn played on the flanks.

Unsurprisingly, those three, who all return in 2019, were a part of the resurgence of Nashville's offense towards the end of the season. The trio of Hume, Winn and Mensah all contributed goals during the final 10 games with 8 of the 20 goals scored during the stretch.

2019 Forwards

#3 Ropapa Mensah

#9 Cameron Lancaster

#11 Kharlton Belmar

#12 Tucker Hume

#14 Daniel Ríos

#19 Alan Winn

Featuring the club's first two MLS signings in Ríos and Lancaster and another top level signing in Belmar, Nashville SC added three of the best scorers in the USL Championship to the three returners. In one offseason general manager Mike Jacobs and head coach Gary Smith transformed the position group to one of the most exciting in the league.

Lancaster, Ríos and Belmar combined to score 56 USL goals in 2018 and that number could have been higher had Belmar not been called up to play for Sporting Kansas City of MLS, limiting his USL appearances. Lancaster set the league's single season scoring record with 26 goals, and Ríos was on his heels with 20, finishing tied for second. In total between the six current Nashville forwards, they scored 72 goals and contributed 19 assists in 2018.

Gary Smith's Thoughts on the Position

"I expect to see a lot of competition, number one. I firmly believe that those forward going areas, the creative players on the field, the goals scorers, they need to be kept on a knife's edge. When they are playing well and they are scoring goals, they are incredibly confident individuals, they thrive on that. That mindset and that thought process when that goal looms up has got to be, 'I'm going to score.' There can' be a doubt. It can't be an issue for them when they get in front of goal. To that degree, I think we've got some of the best forwards in the league. We have got plenty of dimension in that front line. We have got individuals who are capable of different qualities and combinations. In the wide areas we have got plenty of pace and invention. And, at any point in time, we could look good in a front three, front two. We can be any single flexible system you want to think of, and I can't help but think that poses problems to other people.

What to Watch For

Heading into Saturday's final preseason contest against Indy Eleven, questions still remain as to who and how Smith could align his strikers of choice. He will have options as his six forwards can be diverse between playing on the wing and centrally, with Hume being the only one out of the group who, with his 6-foot-5 frame is locked into role.

The question for Smith might not be who will play, but rather how many will play. Smith has been creative in his formations in the preseason, sometimes getting as many as four of his six forwards on the field at one time. On March 9, that question will be answered when Nashville SC lines up for the first time in USL play, fans will get their first look at the new front line of Nashville SC.

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