Another match week completed, another loss, and another article analyzing the struggles of a Nashville SC Designated Player. This time, Sam Surridge is under the microscope.
Chance creation for the No. 9
The good news for Nashville SC is that their chance creation has improved significantly from 2024. Last year, the Boys In Gold created 19 chances for Sam Surridge with an xG greater than .15, which I'll call "Good+ chances". Through nine games in 2025, Nashville have already created 12 Good+ chances for Surridge. The attack is firing with Surridge as the focal point. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to finish what’s been set up for him.
Sam Surridge has the fifth-highest xG in MLS in 2025 at 5.1, but he's only scored two goals. His -3.1 goals-xG total is the worst in the league. He should be competing for the Golden Boot with players like Hugo Cuypers, Chicho Arango, and Tai Baribo, but instead, he's the scapegoat of Nashville’s recent struggles.
Above are the finishing dashboards for Surridge in 2024 and 2025. This includes penalties, so with some mental math, you’ll realize that Sam Surridge has missed both of his Great Non-Penalty chances.
And that’s the small sample size we’re working with. Two bad misses get an article written about how that player is struggling. If he finishes his next big chance, we can take away penalties and squint at the numbers a little to conclude he’s pretty close to average.
Finishing by body part
By now, we're all familiar with the trademark Sam Surridge goal. He loves to drift left, take the ball on his right foot, and finish in the far corner.
Add this one to the list.
— Ben Wright (@benwright) June 20, 2024
pic.twitter.com/k66I22Zx0e https://t.co/S1GTYioNQu
But while the chances have been flowing for Surridge, they haven’t been the chances he likes to finish. Below is a breakdown of all Sam Surridge's shots by body part. I included his 2021-22 season because it is the only other time he had a sufficient sample of goals and shots, and the data is available for the league he played in.
Surridge is a good-to-great finisher with his right foot and an average-to-bad finisher with his left foot and head. The discrepancy in 2025 between right foot xG and right foot goals is the penalty he missed; other than that, he’s been clinical with his right foot.
Right foot or bust?
Finally, the last table I have for you is Surridge’s non-penalty Good+ chances by body part in 2024 and 2025. Only 40% of Good+ chances taken by Surridge have been with his right foot, and he’s finished those chances as expected. The problem is that Surridge is a below-average finisher with his head and left foot, and that’s where most of his Good+ chances come from.
Now, you could argue that the 26-year-old DP No. 9, who should be staking his claim as the face of the team, should be more than a one-trick pony. That’s a fair criticism.
But every player has a dominant foot, and I think the 2025 table will look like 2024 by the end of the year, where he overperforms with his right foot and underperforms with his left foot and head. We’re also still working with a very small sample size this season, and while it is frustrating to watch, some regression to the mean is likely at some point.
BJ Callaghan has the boys playing some great soccer. But it’s time for the stars to step up and start finishing their chances. Once they do, things will look very different.
