Sam Surridge Says He Will Never Play For Nashville Sc Again Until Gary Smith Leaves..
Designated Player Sam Surridge, tipped for a breakout season in his first full year in Music City, left the match in the 53rd minute after a heavy collision with Tyler Boyd left him with significant discomfort in his shoulder
Surridge will be evaluated more in Nashville, but it’s hard to imagine him not missing any time. It’s a tough blow for a Nashville side that finally seemed to have an answer up top.
With Surridge seemingly set for a spell on the sidelines, here are the options Nashville have up front, ranked in order of how likely I think Gary Smith is to utilize them.
Teal Bunbury is somehow the only other senior striker in Nashville SC’s squad. It was always a gamble to go into the season with so few options to lead the line, but the expectation was obviously for a full season of Surridge up front. The 33-year-old Bunbury has spent the last three seasons in Nashville, but has struggled to consistently produce, scoring eight goals in 48 matches.
While Bunbury offers a physical target presence up top, he’s a significant downgrade from Surridge, both in terms of goal-scoring and linkup play. Nashville also don’t have the same effectiveness on the break with Bunbury leading the line.
Bunbury is a good squad player and puts in a shift whenever he plays. He’s the most like-for-like option to replace Surridge, albeit with a much lower ceiling