Head Coach Chris Nugent and midfielder Alex McGrath preview the team's trip to Birmingham two weeks after victory over Atlanta United to kick-off the 2025 preseason.
After a victorious start to the 2025 preseason against Major League Soccer side Atlanta United, Chattanooga Football Club looks to continue its strong start to the year when it travels to Birmingham, Ala. for a closed-door friendly against USL Championship club Birmingham Legion FC on Saturday.
The Chattanooga FC men's team is preparing for its second season competing in MLS NEXT Pro. Head Coach Chris Nugent and his coaching staff have been busy integrating fresh faces with returners in training this week.
"The guys came in and have been training at a very high level," said Nugent. "The technique and intensity has been good. We've got a lot of the squad in, so it's been good to see the camaraderie and team-building aspect pick up. The new players have been gelling well. There's been a lot of interaction between everyone. The mentality has been excellent. Some of the younger guys will be interacting with the older guys, new players with returners, so that's been a positive this early into preseason."
Nugent detailed the kind of challenge he expects Birmingham to present.
"They're always tough. We've played them in preseason's past and it's an excellent game to have. We know they're going to be well organized, have a plan on both sides of the ball. They'll have some high-level players in as well, so it's another game like Atlanta, which will be really difficult. We will need to be switched on for all of the game in terms of set pieces, defensively, how they want to play and build, and they will probably switch things up between the halves as well, so there will be a lot of moving pieces to deal with.
"We just want to see more of our identity—we want to progress the ball through the lines a bit quicker than last season," Nugent continued. "As we progress through preseason can we see more and more of who we want to be in terms of how we build, defend, attack, how we take set pieces and how we deal with adversity. The games are always chaotic and you never know what you're going to get, so if we can start to see who we are in those pieces now, that's going to help us in training next week and the following games as we build to the start of March."
CFC midfielder Alex McGrath previewed the match with Birmingham and discussed some of the principles of play the team is looking to implement.
“We want to be aggressive going forward and take risks in the right areas," said McGrath. "We obviously want to keep the ball as well and not just play 'smash and run', but we're trying to work on a little bit of everything and it takes a bit of time to adjust and get used to exactly what Chris wants. It's been a good start from the lads, especially the new ones who are in and getting used to the club and city; they've adapted pretty quickly.
"It's going to be a tough test. They're [Birmingham] always well organized and have a lot of returners, so anytime we play them it's been a great test. We've had two big games to start with, which I think is excellent to prepare us well for the season. The main thing is we want to make sure Chris is happy with what we're trying to do. We want to continue to build that chemistry and keep working on those principles that Chris has set."
