Nashville SC took away several hard lessons from their early Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs exit at the hands of the LA Galaxy – chief among them that Hany Mukhtar can only do so much.
This year's Golden Boot presented by Audi winner (23g/11a) and Landon Donovan MLS MVP frontrunner was held to just one shot during Saturday's Western Conference Round One match at Dignity Health Sports Park, which led to a 1-0 loss for the Coyotes.
Mukhtar scored or assisted in 65% of Nashville's goals this campaign, a truly remarkable and arguably unsustainable stat for a club that's made the postseason in their first three years in MLS, but aspires to more.
"How can we keep raising the bar, raising the standard, and say it's not just about making the playoffs?," asked two-time MLS Defender of the Year Walker Zimmerman after the final whistle.
"That's the first step when you're chasing MLS Cup, but how do we now press up the table, fight for Supporters' Shields, fight for home playoff games for the first two or three rounds? That's gotta be the job and the incentive going forward."
Overreliance on Mukhtar?
With Zimmerman marshaling the backline, Nashville's defense did its part by limiting the Galaxy to just seven shots over 90 minutes. Yet after Video Review disallowed a Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez goal early in the second half, Julian Araujo found the breakthrough for the hosts at the hour mark.
That lone goal made all the difference, as none of Mukhtar's teammates stepped up to the challenge of taking on some of the offensive load. Ake Loba, Nashville's DP striker, didn't come off the bench.
"We did manage to restrict them," said assistant coach Steve Guppy, who was filling in after head coach Gary Smith didn't make the trip with a non-COVID illness.
"But to be totally honest, on the day we just lacked a little bit of quality around the team, where two or three passes and we could have really caused them some problems."
No more excuses
For Zimmerman, this was symptomatic of a team that struggled to put games away when it mattered most, which left Nashville as the West's No. 5 seed and allowed the 4th-seeded Galaxy to play Saturday's playoff opener in front of their home fans.
"This year, we kind of hurt ourselves many times where we dropped points late," said the US men's national team defender. "You can even look at the Galaxy game (a 1-1 draw on Sept. 10), giving up that handball and a PK [in extra time]. If that's a different story, now we're hosting them."
After three seasons in MLS, Nashville are ready to be more than an expansion team that punches above their weight to qualify for the playoffs. They're not just happy to be here. They haven't been for a while, but fresh off the sting of a third painfully close postseason exit, it's time to take a step forward.
"The standard is that we've got to shed off this 'we're the new team'... It's not valid anymore," said Zimmerman. "Three years now, we gotta move on. We've been in the league now for three full seasons, so we aren't the new kids on the block anymore.
"Now we're an established team. Three years in a row in the playoffs."
