Charlotte FC is betting on a coach new to MLS. He’s betting on himself to buck a trend
Miguel Ángel Ramírez arrived in Charlotte for the first time this week, and in less than a year he’ll stand on the pitch as the head coach of Charlotte FC. That means there will be at least one head coach who is new to Major League Soccer in 2022.
Ramírez spent most of his career developing academy players internationally before leading Ecuadorian club Independiente del Valle to its first Copa Sudamericana championship in 2019. He most recently coached Brazilian club Internacional, and he more closely resembles Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola in both his appearance and coaching philosophy than fictional soccer coach Ted Lasso, who Ramírez mimicked in a well-timed recreation of the show’s intro.
There was still an undeniable Lasso-ness to his comments during an introductory press conference Thursday. He was quick to dismiss the notion that an international coach who is new to the league could struggle to find early success.
“Limitations, I don’t like at all,” he said. “... Of course the projects at the beginning are difficult to get the success in the first year, but you need to start with something and you need to believe and think that it’s possible.”
Tata Martino’s legacy at Atlanta United quieted skepticism on the subject in 2018, but the past two MLS Cups have been won by longtime MLS coaches Brian Schmetzer (Seattle) and Caleb Porter (Columbus). Currently, there are three head coaches in their first seasons in the league without any MLS experience — DC United’s Hernán Losada, Inter Miami’s Phil Neville and Montréal’s Wilfried Nancy, and it’s been a mixed bag in terms of early results between them. DC United is ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference after 14 matches, Inter is ranked dead last in the same conference after 12 matches and Montréal is in fifth after 14 matches. Ramírez is also among the youngest head coaches in the league at 36 years old, which is a year older than interim Atlanta coach Rob Valentino, who is the youngest. Losada is the next youngest at 39.
First-year head coaches in MLS don’t typically shoot to the top of the league either. It still took Martino, who led Atlanta to its first MLS Cup as the club’s inaugural head coach, two seasons to achieve a title. Should Charlotte FC pull off an incredible feat and win the MLS Cup next year, Ramírez would become the first head who is both new to the league and North American soccer to do so. While that’s not necessarily what the club is promising, performance expectations are high.
Charlotte FC is aiming to average 30,000 fans per home game and attempting to break the league’s attendance record for a single match. Team owner David Tepper also reiterated Thursday the team’s previously stated goal of making the playoffs in its inaugural season in 2022. Team president Nick Kelly previously shared a goal of hosting a playoff match in the inaugural season, which likely means a top-four finish in the regular season, as Atlanta did in 2017.
“In all these sports, there’s only one level of success for me. That’s winning everything, eventually,” Tepper said. “I don’t expect to do that in the first year. I think you have to build things a little bit.”
He also highlighted a club philosophy, saying, “We’re not gonna be afraid to do something different than the rest of MLS and the rest of soccer.”
Certain decisions, such as the introduction of Personal Seat Licenses for season-ticket holders and the switch to artificial turf at Bank of America Stadium, which the team will share with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, have been met with criticism by soccer fans put off by the business-motivated moves, but Ramírez struck a tone of future-focused optimism.
“I understand the responsibility of building a new project with goals beyond the pitch,” he said. “I also believe it is more important to leave a legacy than winning a title.”
Ramírez’s background is deeply rooted in soccer, or fútbol “like we call it in Spain,” he said, but on the youth side. He spent most of his career as an academy coach, first for his hometown club of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands and then between multiple youth Greek clubs in 2011. He also spent six years coaching at Aspire Academy in Qatar honing his attacking, possession-based style of play. He’s diving into waters he’s never personally charted as a coach both new to the United States and new to MLS.
He described Major League Soccer as having grown into “one of the most exciting and promising leagues in the world.” The league continues to attract widely lauded international players, such as Javier “Chicharito” Hernández and Gonzalo Higuaín in recent years, and will grow to 29 teams by 2023 with the addition of Charlotte next year and St. Louis the following season. Charlotte FC also considers Ramírez a catch after they renewed conversations that started before the pandemic to eventually lock in the deal.
“Practically the entire Brazilian soccer elite wanted him,” Charlotte FC sporting director Zoran Krneta told The Observer earlier this month. Team owner David Tepper said that he was sold after a single conversation on Zoom.
Speaking in front of a crowd that included Tepper, Ally Financial CEO Jeffrey Brown and Charlotte city councilmembers, Ramírez recalled watching the FIFA Men’s World Cup hosted by the United States in 1994 and noted that the North American soccer landscape has grown for the better since then.
“This is why I wanted to live the MLS experience,” Ramírez said during the press conference in which he answered questions in both English and Spanish. “This is my American dream.”
He also highlighted the support he’ll receive from recently announced assistant coach Christian Lattanzio, who knows the intricacies of MLS as a former assistant coach at New York City FC under now Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira, as well as the technical staff headed by Krneta. Martino, in an interview with The Observer last year, stressed the importance of the head coach working in conjunction with management to build a winning team.
“Usually coaches come in and they build their own team, but MLS has so many rules, and you have to understand why you want a certain player, for example, and why you can’t bring him,” Martino said. “That’s the other important part. There needs to be a certain amount of confidence between everybody that’s working together to build a team.”
“At the same time, you cannot put aside your convictions,” he continued. “If you put aside your convictions, it’s very hard to be a coach and instill your philosophy.”
Ramírez outlined his key pillars for the club, summarizing with three words: “We will be progressive, ambitious and collective,” he said.
He also highlighted how his experience coaching youth teams could translate to bolstering Charlotte FC’s growing Academy program and community initiatives and shared a series of visions for the club that included results beyond a final score.
“I have seen how sport makes a difference in children’s lives, instilling social values: Discipline, respect and the importance of diversity. It creates stronger communities. This is our aim at Charlotte FC.”
“Can you imagine what Charlotte FC and the MLS can accomplish in the leadup to the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup and beyond?” he continued. “I’m confident that by then, we’ll have grown out Charlotte FC Academy talent and that some might be on the U.S. Men’s National Team.”
Ramírez also acknowledged the road ahead and confirmed that, yes, there really is a big difference tactically and physically between the international leagues he’s experienced so far and the MLS landscape. But his winding path around the world has given him a philosophical perspective on the game and the confidence to tackle the challenge of building something from scratch.
“At the end it’s fútbol,” he said. “And I believe that people can adapt and can transform themselves and can change.”
