Christian Fuchs didn’t hold back his thoughts on Charlotte FC firing its coach

Charlotte FC captain Christian Fuchs didn’t mince words Tuesday when discussing the club’s decision to fire head coach Miguel Angel Ramirez partway through the inaugural season.

Addressing the media for the first time since the coaching change, Fuchs said there were “fractures” between the players and coaching staff.

“I think there was a little bit of players not really buying into what (Ramirez is) trying to achieve,” Fuchs said.

Fuchs’ comments came soon after the team’s first practice under interim head coach Christian Lattanzio and the first since the international break. He did not participate in the training due to an ankle issue but watched.

“I had the time to look at faces, I had the time to look at the players, at the nonverbal communication,” Fuchs said. “And it was very interesting to see how I would say with how much relief players were approaching the training. With a lot of smiles.”

The team’s leadership, owner David Tepper, Sporting Director Zoran Krneta and Director of Player Personnel Bobby Belair, were in attendance for Lattanzio’s first practice.

Charlotte (5-8-1) fired Ramirez, assistant coach Mikel Antía, head fitness coach Cristobal Fuentes Nieto and video analyst Luis Piedrahita on May 31 after the first 14 games of the expansion team’s inaugural season. Fuchs said the team has underperformed relative to its talent level.

The most significant change in practices after the coaching change came in the physical demands, Fuchs said. Under Ramirez, the training schedule leading up to games lacked the necessary intensity and could have caused some of the team’s slow starts, he said.

Fuchs said that the team would focus heavily on tactical work to adjust the strategy for the upcoming opponent and said the shifting of game plans was “confusing.”

At the beginning of the season, Fuchs felt that Ramirez’s philosophy could work if combined with player buy-in. However, he noted that there were too many changes in that philosophy from game to game and that it did not reflect what he and the team were told at the start.

He added that the tactical work was always tailored to the upcoming game and that the team did not take time to re-evaluate their prior performance.

“To have a postmatch analysis to look at, what did we do well, what did we do not so well. That’s how you improve a team ... that’s just the process,” he said. “That was, well that was nonexistent.”

When issues were brought to Ramirez, the former coach was not receptive and “most of the times, unfortunately, the door was shut,” Fuchs said. “That didn’t feel good.”

He felt Ramirez was not willing to address the concerns players had. Eventually, the 36-year-old said that led him to keep the conversations to himself and use his own experiences to help players move forward with their issues. He described his own relationship with the coach as “interesting … it was not easy.”

While he declined to say whether Lattanzio should be the coach beyond 2022, Fuchs did give him a vote of confidence, saying the two had a call a few weeks ago and that he loves how Lattanzio sees player development.

“The player for him is in the center of everything … which then creates a great atmosphere and helps the team progress as well,” Fuchs said. “So if the player feels valued, the player feels like they’re someone that wants to improve him, they are willing to give more.”

FC will host the New York Red Bulls at 3 p.m. Saturday at Bank of America Stadium.

This story was originally published June 7, 2022 at 1:51 PM.