Walker Zimmerman & BJ Callaghan EXPECT Nashville SC to WIN against Austin as MLS RETURNS

it's been great I mean feels like we haven't played in uh in quite a long time uh I think everyone's really excited we had a great you know couple weeks just to focus on us focus on training um it's been really positive a lot of energy lot of competition within the group which is what you want to see uh that's that's the new standard it has to be competitive every single training session and I think that's been a a welcome change for us and so guys are excited we're ready to get back in front of our fans at geotus and uh we know we have an important nine game stretch here and so that's what our focus is and that starts with Austin on Saturday thanks so much yeah obviously you were with uh was the at the Olympics for a lot of kind of the initial period while BJ was getting um into the team and kind of setting things up kind of what was that like um obviously being invested in what's going on here but also kind of having to watch from the outside end yeah super difficult um to manage to be honest I mean you always want to be so focused and present on where you are at the same time you still care a lot about your teammates and what's going on back at home um the difficult thing also with the time change was the games it'd be you know 1:30 kickoffs and I I remember I'd always like wake up in the middle night to go to the bathroom like check the score and and like then I'd be like oh well I got to watch the highlights now and then it's like 3:00 and I'm just like um but yeah it was tough so I couldn't really watch watch the games um just had to catch up and you know got to talk with guys about how it was going and uh even though the results might not have gone our way especially you know looking at leagues cup performances I think guys were just starting to sense like how things could be different and how we want to play and what you know BJ is going to bring in terms of style of play and and the principles and and all those things that it's just been a good learning experience I think for for a lot of guys myself included being back just of of learning what we're going to look like what is our identity going to be and um I think that that is exciting when you have players who like learning new things and and challenging themselves in ways that maybe they haven't um haven't ever before yeah and then kind of just looking at the table it's a little bit of a different position than you guys are maybe normally used to um obviously still Within Reach of of making the playoffs again kind of um maybe as Captain what's kind of the mindset that you're trying to preach to the locker room just in the next nine games yeah I think there's obviously so much to to play for still and we know how fast things can change in this league all of a sudden we win back-to-back games and we're above the line and that's you know it's got to be taking it one game at a time I don't think we can look at this as a whole block and just be like oh well if we do this in this game and get a result here on the road or here at home it's like no we we got to go out every single game knowing that it is going to be more intense there is going to be more pressure because we have you know we expect ourselves to be in the playoffs every year that's that's never going to change um now you're right we find ourselves behind um where we want to be at this point in the season but but we still have nine games left and and there is time to make moves and our expectation is to you know fully be in the playoffs and so that's I think the message is it's one game at a time and we'll keep attacking every game as if it's you know a knockout type game where we're going in with with needing points um because that's the reality is when you're chasing you got to make up those points somehow so the good news for us is you know five of those nine games we're playing at teams that are at or below us in the standings and so there's a lot there's going to be a lot of movement um we see how fast it can change in this league so um hopefully we're the team that's that's making the jump Walker you already said that it's been challenging the work with the BJ U how much can you compare to being challenging challenged by and difficulty for you guys to actually acquire his idea especially when when it comes to the team going forward yeah I think guys have responded really well I think he's thrown a lot at the group in terms of information and you talk about style play and tactics and identity I mean there are a lot of things that people are learning about how he wants to play and that is in the form of like almost classroom like settings where you're in watching video and and he's asking you like what is the principle that we should be seeing next and like where should this ball be going next where should the runs be going and guys are like focused as if it was a classroom and they're trying to answer these questions and then obviously implementing that on the field in actual training sessions and in you know some like scrimmage work and uh full 11 v1s on the field you know it's been a a tough few weeks for guys without the games because we have been training very very hard knowing that we have to get our you know physical side of things um staying like maintaining that Fitness like during these two to three weeks so it's been it's been challenging from the physical point of view from the mental point of view But ultimately it's still refreshing like it's still like we feel like we're moving towards something and I think that's what's giving guys the energy to kind of continue to grow and develop so it's all been positive I think now we're really excited to have had you know over a month now to acclimate a little bit and now we're just you know looking to have consistent performances that reflect the things that we've been working on so in terms of I mean you're being under different coaches training and and and playing even on the national team you already know the coach from the national team anyways in terms of what nice people look like once in the pitch is it going to be a lot different way different what do you think yeah I think it should be a lot uh a lot different with the things that we've been working on um I think there's a lot more um Clarity that's being brought to light in in terms of how we're going to attack how we're going to score goals and I think fans and Spectators should start to recognize some different patterns of play some movements that can now be branded with like oh this is what Nashville SC is trying to do on the field and so the hope is that that becomes more and more evident with you know more games that are being played that you see oh when the ball goes here like I bet this guy's going to make that run and these guys are going to fall up here and the ball is going to be played across they're going to to have a chance you know that's that's more of what we're looking for um is these consistent movements and patterns that can can hopefully break down the opponent and um that's the stuff that we've been working on on the training pitch we'll go to Val on Zoom he Walker going off of what that earlier question for you as a center back is it is this change in identity it does does that change a lot of what you have to do on the pitch or is it similar for you the center back and not maybe has involved going forward I mean I think it's always it's always different whatever system you're playing in whatever formation you're playing in style of play like that does change what you're doing uh on the field so I'll give you an example from like a center back's point of view with how we want to defend and and get fullbacks pushed up on maybe their Winger center backs going to have to be a lot more responsible for defending balls into the channel if if an attacking mid runs through or a Ford makes a diag run um so we have to defend that channel a little bit better and we want to compress the field a little bit more than in the past and so that's going to be a lot more sliding from side to side from our back line so you're going to see us making the field more narrow and being more compact which is means we have to move a little bit more so that would be like a subtle change um obviously offensively we're looking to um probably have people appear in some different Pockets which could open up some some more passing lanes for me as a center back so those are like small examples of why a formation can affect like my role um other than that I mean you're still you're still it's 11v 11 you're still trying to defend the Penalty Box well when your du when your challenges and and set the tone from a intensity point of view so those are all things that um I'll continue to try and do um but yeah go ahead yeah and um earlier this week um DX already announced his retirement um have you spoken to him I know you spent four years obviously Nashville playing with him he passed on the captain to you so any messages or him yeah we we texted a little bit following that video and I said uh you know I always joked around about him being a number 10 and how um he's he's a great you know has a great final pass and and needs to shoot more and uh all those things and so I I sent him a text along the lines like I hope that this means you're just retiring from the number six position and you're just moving to number 10 um I didn't get that clarification from your video so he responded and you know we had some good laughs and um I I I mean what an incredible career you know it's it's it's sad because that's a guy that I grew up watching in the league have so much success and you see what he's brought to teams on and off the field and that it's like a sober thought to realize oh my gosh like he's retiring like everyone else is getting older like that's that's pretty sad to to see an MLs with no Dax mcari in it you know um so I wish him all the best and I I told him he's due for one more Banger of a goal but the stipulation was it couldn't be against us uh so he he agreed to terms and uh hopefully he'll produce on his end of the deal last question yeah Walker I know you've kind of been working through some of your coaching badges um I'm curious do you feel like that um maybe kind of a different way of looking at it has helped you at all kind of um adjusting to BJ and um kind of understanding what he's asking from you do you feel like that different perspective has impacted you yeah I know a couple of the guys here have been you know trying to get their licenses so I did my B license course probably I think two years ago maybe three years ago now um and you're always looking at it through a slightly diff different lens when you're from a coach's point of view but I think it is helpful when you start to to think about the game like that and you start to think about uh ways that you can break down an opponent based on on shape Personnel uh different things that you can tweak and so I think probably the ability to make like in-game adjustments or communicate with your own coaching staff hey this is what I'm feeling on the field are you guys seeing that from above from the iPad like I think we're getting broken down here should we do this like it just opens up the the conversation probably a little bit more if you can understand what's going on on the field um or or implementing their instructions you know if they just bring something to you so I think it's important um to at least you know immerse yourself in that way to understand who you're playing and and what you as a team are trying to do and um yeah those are all things that are are going to be be helpful yeah training's been great obviously our first objective was to play as many games in the leags cup as we could uh the moment that that was not our reality uh we we refocused on how we were going to maximize the the the two we sort of uh noname schedule um and it's been it's been a real uh re-energizing moment for for the group uh we've had the opportunity to work on a lot continue to build our culture uh both on and off the field and and uh so you know and we're really really excited to get back uh in play in front of the home fans of uh Nashville at geotus um and and expect you know with our energy and their energy uh to come out and have a really good performance um what we expect from Austin is a team that's well coached uh well organized um you know when you watch them play you can you realize there's no detail uh that's left uh in their game plans um a dynamic attacking team for sure that have both indiv idual talent and a collective uh Talent um and they and to be quite honest they're in a position very similar to us um so we're expecting to get uh an energized group that's going to make a hard playoff push uh and and that's our objective as well thanks coach we'll go ahead with questions in the room uh and then on Zoom if you have a zoom question please raise your hand Ben yeah BJ um you just kind of mentioned the the time off and I know you've been working to kind of implement some things you'd like to see in the team um maybe what are some specific things that you um that you've maybe worked on this week that you're hoping to to see the guys take a step forward with Saturday yeah I think I think what we really spent for the for the large period of time was focusing on ourselves it was a it was an opportunity that we didn't have to prepare for an opponent and we could really think about the way we want to play and and getting that cohesiveness I would say we focused on All Phases of play um you know again trying to create a connection with our buildup and linking it to opportunities to score goals and then really getting defined on how we want to how we want to defend and how we want to press so I mean in general uh we went into detail in a lot of the phases but it's about with the ball how can we create better goal scoring chances and without the ball how can we be a really difficult team to to play against and I think you know we were able to spend that time uh focusing on that and really working together so that we're uh we're as gelled as we can when we go play on Saturday yeah and then kind of just heading into this nine game kind of stretch run um obviously winning games is important making the playoffs as a goal do you have kind of some specific targets that you're looking to hit in these next nine games that that you can share so for us it's a we looking we're looking at this phase as uh like the group stage we know that we have nine guaranteed games left um and we're going have to earn ourselves into The Knockout the way that we're going to earn it is about having consistent performances so so we want to lay out game plans we want to we it's very clear on how we want to play now as a as a group and for us it's about you know making incremental strides each time when we play over these nine games and and and trusting that if we're able to execute the way we want to the results will end up coming for us but you know in for us it's about being true to ourselves that's that's how we're going to measure ourselves that we when when the pressure gets to the to the most which is always on game day is it still the way that it looks and is it still the way that we we want to execute um you know that we talked about you during the week okay BJ obviously you as a coach have particular goals not only for the L games like you just stated but also for for the game itself um but for the UN train9 the pan that is looking to see uh what's change uh in the in in in Nashville see after all these weeks that now You' been training what can they expect what can they see yeah we we wanted them see a team that plays together um that first off brings a brings a competitiv and an attitude um and a and a and a workmanlike mentality that fits sort of the culture of this city and and that something that the fans can be can be proud of uh when they show up on Saturday they can see a team that's going to fight uh all the way to the end you know with understanding this is our first step towards you know our goal which is to make is to make the playoffs um in you know a little bit more specifically in the in on the field of play we want to be able to create goal scoring chances we we want you know and the best way you can see is we want the ball on the side The Penalty Box you know we want to see a team that's you know defending aggressively creating transition moments to get the ball in the Penalty Box we want to see our opportunities that we're moving the ball quickly we're able to you know disorganize the opponent to get into the Penalty Box and create that so for us that's what we want we know that brings the most excitement to the to the fan um but at the same time brings the most energy to the team um and that's that's first and foremost so I think what you know what we hope that when they come to Saturday and they look at this team they're going to be a see they're going to see a team that's attacking attacking and attacking The Penalty Box and trying to create and trying to score goals so would you say then that the fan can obviously not expect per se a change on the personel that is going to be starting the game but the strategy and the way they're play correct yeah that's a that's a I would say that's a fair way to say you know this is this is the group that we have this is the group that we're committed to this is the group that's been working really hard um to to sort of embrace all of these new ideas um so there's going to be a lot of familiar faces that the fans are used to seeing but we just hope to see that it's in maybe a little bit of a different way um in in a way that can that can get them energized and can their energy then can give it to us on the field um and and a team that's going to be aggressive both with and without the ball I just thing I want to ask about Patrick yzb and Jonathan for they both joined the team around the same time you did and I just want to see how they've acclimated with the team and and what what are your thoughts on them and and how they're going to proceive at NC yeah uh so Patrick yasbeck um again his transition is different he's obviously you know uh an Australian coming from Norway integrating into American culture um thrown right into you know kind of thrown right in so the I think these last two weeks have been an opportunity for him to get really really settled I would say on and off the field um and having players settle off the field and and taking that stress away from them only helps them perform at the uh ma at their maximum on the field and so for me I think that's been a great opportunity for Patrick to get settled uh on the field he's been he he's been great I mean he his his his daily uh I would say commitment to training um the effort that he puts in the effort you see on the field from him is the same effort he puts on the training field um he's found his voice and he's vocal uh with the team um and I would say he's a great compliment to the great the the leadership that we already have here uh Johnny's Johnny's a different right he's from LA Galaxy he's here on loan um he's a young player uh we have seen his quality uh shine um you saw the opportunity that he had with Huntsville you know was able to make an immediate impact in the first game down there I think that's a testament to our club and sort of the alignment that we're trying to to create um and I I expect both of them to to play big roles this weekend um and Johnny settled in Johnny settled in really I would say really well and the the quality that he has uh has made him sort of uh instantly respected you know inside inside the group even as a young player um and he's a he's a humble a humble kid who who wants to wants to learn wants to improve wants to develop uh uh with big with big goals and we're excited to to help him uh you know reach reach the Ambitions that he's set out I go ahead if you have a second yeah um last time Austin came to geod park there was a kind of a big story line about the two MVP candidates jusi and MTAR and was kind of the back and forth and then you know there was there was a lot of sort of excitement uh now we look at both teams in different areas obviously but I guess does that their last visit or anything from previous times does that come up in your preparation for this game at all when you're talking to the guys or is it just pretty much let's look at what's coming up ahead of us yeah I would say we're we're really focused on the way that we're going to have a performance um on Saturday on ourselves we obviously have to take into account who the opponent is the challenges that they're going to uh present to us and and how we're going to to plan for that but our planning is very much based upon our Collective group here um we know we know what we need to do uh to achieve sort of the the larger goal and so when we're going through our preparations on the week it's about it's about us it's not about individual players on our team or individual players um from the opponent even though we respect the as I opened opened the press conference we we we respect the the quality that they have across the board um not only as individuals uh not only collectively but from from their whole organization of how well coached they are and how well prepared they come into every match yeah I just wanted to get a quick update um maybe some of the fitness of the guys I'm trying to think back to the last game but I think um Randall obviously has missed time Lucas has been coming back Drew uh was hurt I think in your first match do you have updates on those guys yeah so I can tell you that Randall is still unavailable for selection Drew still unavailable for selection Lucas is currently in full training uh so it's a just a it's a little bit more of like a daily watching how he is so it's I wouldn't he's available for selection um he's in full training but it's going to be a little bit on terms of how how he responds to kind of the increasing of the loads throughout the early part of this week can as we still go into today and tomorrow