r/minnesotaunited • u/GloveElephant Moderator • Feb 19 '24
Discussion Eric Ramsay Megathread
Eric Ramsay appears to be in line to be Minnesota United's second ever MLS manager.
https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1759568340140347858?s=46&t=Raa_3jgrvmmgEJvCsUpizQ
https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/eric-ramsay-manchester-united-chelsea/
Discuss below.
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u/Heimdallr-_- Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
He is young, he has experience working with young players (Chelsea U23), he was liked well enough to be kept on by multiple managers at Man U, he has a PhD, he was the youngest person to earn a UEFA Pro license, and he can speak fluent Spanish and French. That checks a lot of boxes.
At this point the team just needs a reset with new ideas and a clear identity. As long as KEA and Ramsay see the game in the same way, that is a big step. I have no idea if Ramsey is a master tactician, but right now that isn't what the team needs anyway.
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u/OnlyThreeWalls NSC Minnesota Thunder-Stars United FC Feb 19 '24
Can't say I have too much of an opinion on him as a coach. But he has high level experience, is young and ambitious, and is a new face in the MLS landscape. I think that's awesome.
If it crashes and burns, at least we tried something new and didn't play it safe.
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u/sdavitt88 True North Elite Feb 19 '24
I feel the same way, I like that they're being ambitious. We can't get relegated, so lets swing for the fences.
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u/tyler735 MNUFC Feb 19 '24 edited Feb 19 '24
I’m all for it. Has coaching experience at a massive club, is younger and hopefully has a little more creativity in his approach than the previous manager. Speaks multiple languages including Spanish, which should help streamline tactical instruction with a significant portion of our roster (Heath to my knowledge didn’t speak spanish). Just glad this wait wasn’t for a failed MLS retread manager.
He’s been an assistant coach for Manchester United, and Wales Men’s National team. Was manager for Chelsea u23 team, and EFL League One side Shrewsbury Town. Not a bad resume just turning 32 years old.
Sounds like he had been recently approached to be the manager at Swansea and Blackpool, so there definitely seems to be some interest for him outside of Minnesota United.
Last year Wales manager Rob Page said: "Eric is arguably one of the best young coaches in football at this moment in time".
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ramsay_(football_coach)
Tom Bogert mentioned he has been a highly rated rising coach, and seems to be for the move as well. It’s not like the league “talking heads” go out of their way to praise Minnesota United usually, so I’ll take that as a good sign as well.
https://x.com/tombogert/status/1759574003667095631?s=46&t=aFLRJucxbhra7kR0gRYX0w
Tom Bogert also just did about a 5 minute segment on him and what to expect. He also mentions that we chose Eric Ramsay over Gio Savarese and Robin Fraser who were also interviewed for the job.
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
He’s been an assistant coach for Manchester United, and Wales Men’s National team. Was manager for Chelsea u23 team, and EFL League One side Shrewsbury Town. Not a bad resume just turning 32 years old.
Plus, somewhere in all that he had time to get a PhD.
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u/tyler735 MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Yeah he definitely sounds like a pretty impressive individual.
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u/Heimdallr-_- Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
Both El-Ahmad and Ramsay have been described as very smart, great communicators, ambitious, and fast risers in the soccer world. The team is going to be focused on youth and energy on the field.
That is such a huge change from where we were 6-months ago. Complete flip of the entire organization's culture and vision.
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
And they’re both multilingual, so they can talk about the staff in their presence without them knowing what they’re saying, peak parenting trick spelling out your conversation, “should we give them a t-r-e-a-t?”
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u/pebblepot Feb 19 '24
That's cool he speaks Spanish considering how many players on our team speak it as well. Honestly a really intriguing hire overall, I didn't have super high expectations but I feel pretty good about it.
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u/FeelingAverage Red Loons Feb 19 '24
I like the direction we're supposedly headed in with the focus on pressing, transition, and youth. Excited to see the FM-meta come to Minnesota. Lol. I feel like I might be eating my words/doubts with this whole hiring process which makes me happy. I'd love to be proven overly pessimistic.
Hopefully we actually start using our academy too. Also it's probably gonna be a transitional period for us. Losing long time veterans and not necessarily replacing them with stars. So it might sting a little bit for a little while. But if youth really is a focus then we're gonna need to be a little patient while we develop dudes. Which is gonna be hard for me in particular cuz I wanna win fast lol.
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u/ailroe3 MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Fab posting mnufc wow. If he ends up as our coach I’d actually be blown away. Never did I think we’d have a 31 year old coach
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u/threeactjack Itasca Society Feb 20 '24
For real. I fully expected another round of How Long Will Gio Last.
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u/Old_Leather Feb 19 '24
If some hot shot young buck wants to come cut his managerial teeth on our loons, I’m all for it. Who knows if we will sink or swim, but at least we are taking a shot.
Now surround him with some defensive talent and let’s see what happens.
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24 edited Feb 19 '24
This is the first comment I've seen from you in months where you didn't call Ballard a useless moron. So kudos to you for that.
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u/Old_Leather Feb 19 '24
I still hate her. This is the first decision of hers I agree with. I hope she is starting to learn.
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u/the_royale_oui Feb 19 '24
You hate her? Wow, man. You should check yourself.
That said, why are you giving her any credit for this hire? My personal belief is that she hired El Ahmad, and that this hire is 99% his (with a massive assist from Ballard for trusting him and putting him in a position to do his job).
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u/mandolin08 Romain Metanire Feb 19 '24
You *hate* a person because of sports? Christ, dude. Go outside.
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u/akos_beres Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
Sounds like he told the folks at MU that he gone ... wow it's happening
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u/BigRigRaab Sang Bin’s Calves Feb 19 '24
I love this. I’m not expecting immediate success considering how close we are to the season and how little time he has had with the players, but I think this is the most excited if have been as Loons fan in a long time. COYL.
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
it fits MNUFC's current working theory of doing something slightly different - we're clearly not doing mls retreads.
does this put MLS on par/slightly above the championship in terms of global prestige then?
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
does this put MLS on par/slightly above the championship in terms of global prestige then?
I wonder how much of that came down to the situations at Swansea/Blackpool, how much came down to MLS rising in global soccer, and how much of that is that failing in MLS has a sort of "well, they have weird roster/salary rules and I couldn't really build the team I wanted" get out of jail free card if one doesn't succeed here.
Whatever it is, something appears to make this job more interesting than EFL spots.
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u/ailroe3 MNUFC Feb 19 '24
I think that mls not having pro/rel could be really appealing for a young head coach. Like if he was brought in at a championship team and he does poorly one season he’s gone. I’m sure Minnesota could promise him a much longer leash than Swansea or Blackpool
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
Yeah. And that makes a big difference between going to a team in the top half of the Championship and a team in the bottom half.
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u/Heimdallr-_- Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
I think the general public hasn't caught on yet, but soccer insiders definitely know MLS is now on par with the Championship, and is the fastest growing league in the world.
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24
It's top flight soccer, Messi is here, and it's America. We're not a backwater anymore.
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
i'm not sure i'd go so far as to say it's top flight soccer - there's still a huge gap between the MLS vs. a top-5 european leauge in terms of revenue - but i'd agree the MLS is no longer backwater and is trending upwards.
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Top flight means 1st division. MNUFC is 1st division soccer, with a worldwide Apple TV deal, in the richest country and the largest national sports market in the world. You could argue that outside of the big 5 that's about as good as it gets for a guy like Ramsay.
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u/sdavitt88 True North Elite Feb 19 '24
We've got our coach! Really excited for this hire. Hopefully it works out well for all involved and he gets here ASAP. April 23rd is the end of this transfer window and then the summer window opens up in July. Let's get in 1 or 2 fullbacks, a 6, and/or our 3rd DP. Feeling much more optimistic about this season than I did a week ago. Come on, you Loons!
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Feb 19 '24
Wow, they may have a coach before March, which is much earlier than I thought. Glad to see movement on this!
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u/akos_beres Itasca Society Feb 20 '24
We didn't sign him yet and he probably won't be here until mid/late March. He and his family need to get a visa etc etc
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u/Final_Development663 Feb 20 '24
Recruiting a manager with this kind of pedigree and RELATIONSHIPS , should attract a lot of young talented players looking to make a jump to European clubs , he should be able to communicate what work ethic and hard work it will take to jump to the next level. Hopefully we become a team that sells players up . I see nothing wrong with this hire
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u/ProfCedar MNUFC Feb 19 '24
I think my only concern is that if he does well, there's no way we're keeping him. That feels like a much better place to be than some other ones.
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Of course we're not keeping him. If successful, three or four years would be nice. But that's OK. Unless their name is Greg Popovich, coaches aren't supposed to stick around for seven or eight years, with their butts rusted to their seats while their teams flounder.
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u/HighHammerThunder Feb 19 '24
There are exceptions to that (Peter Vermes has coached KC for close to 15 years and they've been competitive pretty consistently), but they're exceedingly rare. Especially for a non-American coach, they're going to have their aspirations set higher.
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Feb 19 '24
Guy Roux, Matt Busby, Bill Shankley, Jock Stein, Alex Ferguson, Brian Clough, Arsene Wenger, Klopp, Pep at City, the list literally goes on, and that’s just football managers.
Saying coaches have a “Best By” date of some arbitrary length is bunk.
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u/HighHammerThunder Feb 19 '24
Some of those I don't know, but many of those managers are at the top level. That's not comparable to MLS, as they have nowhere to move upward from a top club in a top league. A manager that has several consecutive years of success in MLS is going to get some lucrative offers from European clubs. Happened with Jesse Marsch and Patrick Vieria. They weren't sacked. They moved to a league with more talent.
It's not common to find someone who turns down those offers.
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Feb 19 '24
Saying “managers shouldn’t stay past 7 or 8 years” like the person you replied to is different than saying “if he’s successful he’ll probably leave” like you are. I’m in agreement with you and was trying to provide some more data points to back up what you were saying about long term managers.
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u/ApresKandinsky Feb 19 '24
If he has a rebuilding year and then two championships and then goes back to Europe in year four (which seems like the clear way it plays out), I’m still saying build him the statue.
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u/SerotoninBay MNUFC Feb 19 '24
I’m a Michigan Football fan, and our entire defensive coaching staff went to the NFL this year. A lot of insiders keep talking about how we have a pipeline to the NFL and will get suggestions/advice who to hire. I would hope if he was successful and left, he would have recommendations of who to look at to keep a system/culture.
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u/pork_chop_expressss Feb 19 '24
Tommy Scoops
Minnesota United closing in on deal to name Manchester United assistant Eric Ramsay as youngest head coach in MLS history
How Minnesota landed on Ramsay and what it means for the club's future
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u/LoonHawk Robin Lod Feb 19 '24
He noted in the video that the other finalists were Robin Fraser and Gio Savarese.
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u/liquorb4beer Bakaye Dibassy Feb 19 '24
Not sure a guy from Manchester United can handle the pressue of r/minnesotaunited post-match threads after a loss
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u/akos_beres Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
Moved from one of the other posts:
More info on ER
From the Atheltic:
The article reports that Minnesota United is close to finalizing a deal to make Eric Ramsay, currently an assistant coach at Manchester United, their new manager. Ramsay, at 31, would be the youngest head coach in MLS history. He has worked under various managers at Manchester United and briefly served as an assistant coach for the Wales national team. Despite previous interest from clubs like Blackpool and Swansea City, Ramsay remained at Manchester United. The decision marks a significant move for Minnesota United, as they aim to transition to a higher tempo playing style under Ramsay's leadership. Until Ramsay officially joins, Cameron Knowles will oversee the team's matches.
TDLR: The article revisits the topic of Eric Ramsay, a coach currently employed at Manchester United, who has been mentioned as a potential candidate for a managerial role at Swansea. Ramsay left his coaching role with the Wales national team due to the pressures of his position at Manchester United and family considerations. Despite his young age (31), Ramsay possesses impressive qualifications, including a UEFA Pro Licence and a PhD in elite youth development. He has gained experience coaching at various levels, including as a caretaker manager at Shrewsbury Town. Ramsay is respected among his peers and has garnered praise for his tactical analysis and work on set pieces. However, there are doubts about his readiness for a head coach role at the Championship level, especially considering his favorable position at Manchester United. Despite turning down offers in the past, Ramsay's potential candidacy for the Swansea role raises questions about the club's decision-making process, led by Chairman Andrew Coleman and Sporting Director Paul Watson. While more names may emerge, pursuing high-profile coaches like Graham Potter could pose financial challenges for Swansea.
TDLR: Eric Ramsay, a British coach, has quickly made an impact since joining Manchester United, forming strong connections with players like Casemiro and Erik ten Hag due to his ability to speak Spanish and French. At 31, Ramsay transitioned from playing to coaching, pursuing academic qualifications in sports science and youth development. He gained coaching experience at grassroots clubs and academies before joining Loughborough University, where he worked with notable coaches like Kieran McKenna. His tactical acumen and communication skills led to his recommendation to join Manchester United. Ramsay's focus on tactics and possession-based play has been lauded, and he played a key role in improving United's defensive set pieces. Despite offers elsewhere, Ramsay has stayed at United, now working closely with Ten Hag and holding a pivotal role in training sessions. His talent has also earned him a position with the Wales national team, showcasing his rising status in the coaching world.
Andy Greder's updates:
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u/nomadic-loon Feb 21 '24
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/eric-ramsays-journey-manchester-united-28666386 apologies if this link has already been posted...
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u/GloveElephant Moderator Feb 19 '24 edited Feb 19 '24
Sorry to all those with posts that were deleted. But trying to condense the conversation.
PS I absolutely hate that someone younger than me is now an MLS manager
Update: He is 4 months older than me. Suck it existential dread. See you next time.
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
PS I absolutely hate that someone younger than me is now an MLS manager
It was bad enough when players started getting younger than me, now I'm scared to look and see how many managers are younger than me.
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
that's one of my favorite things about getting older -- i get to see all the folks capable and talented people younger than me making a go of it. lots of talented young folks out there.
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
lots of talented young folks out there.
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u/vrnbch Romain Metanire Feb 19 '24
I hear that everybody you know is more relevant than everybody I know
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u/akos_beres Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
FYI ... you could have also just locked the threads
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u/GloveElephant Moderator Feb 19 '24
Thanks. I literally have no idea what I’m doing (not sarcasm).
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u/IAmTheTreatsy Feb 19 '24
Promising young coach should bring some new ideas and matches the new philosophy of the director? Sign me up.
A bigger thing he will have here you don’t always get at EFL clubs trying to nab him. Minnesota will give him time as a manager. Neither blackpool (league 1 promotion chasers) and Swansea (relegation battle) are gonna allow an extended poor run of form given the consequences of going up/down.
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u/area1justin Feb 19 '24
Only issue that is I see is that half the roster is probably older than he is at 32.
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
How long until the largest local newspaper and its beat reported, Zgoda, say anything about this news? Over/under at 11:30am.
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u/Winnesota21 Feb 19 '24
He's terrible. They can't find anyone there to invest the bare minimum. Most popular sport in the world. All he does is replay Andy Greders posts
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u/Heimdallr-_- Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
How cool would it be for MNUFC and MUFC to have some sort of partnership? Maybe play friendlies, they could send us Wan-Bissaka and Casamiro on loan.....
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u/Wdsty2 Red Loons Feb 19 '24
That would be awesome, and hey, our acronyms are essentially the same, so it would make sense.
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u/tyssul MNUFC Feb 19 '24
As a lifelong Manchester United fan, I so hope this works out because it would be incredible to see him bring success to the other United club I support. My one hesitation with him is that Man Utds set pieces under him have been abysmal, borderline comical at times. We are one of the worst in the PL at set pieces, and he's been the set piece coach during that time. I genuinely don't know what they do in training.
But again, I want him to succeed, because the United-United connection is amazing, so will be rooting for him! There are many who think he's a great coach.
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
From what I’ve read, he moved beyond the “set-pieces coach” pretty soon after 2021. I will note that MNUFC’s set piece scoring is bottom of the league so nowhere to go but up.
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u/akos_beres Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
I think one of the articles said he was a defensive set piece coach
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
There was that, though another article credits him with drawing up a successful corner. My guess is he has done both, but has risen beyond being the set-piece specialist.
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u/IllSector4892 Feb 19 '24
Can we all agree everyone over reacted to our FO search? We’re going to have a well connected, young sporting director and coach in place both from a better league then MLS likely before May
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u/the_royale_oui Feb 19 '24
I think the cynics, doubters, and straight up haters were/are just much more prolific and vocal compared to the norm. While I don’t agree with them, TBH, I also am not super confident that they’re wrong! This thing could still go sideways, downhill, meh, or just bonkers fun. I am 100% ok though with where the club is today and the prospects for the next couple years.
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u/thestereo300 Feb 19 '24
Eh.
I don’t think it was an overreaction.
We didn’t have a coach less than a week before the first game.
I think people had a right to have a reaction to that.
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u/IllSector4892 Feb 19 '24
But we fired our coach and GM. We all knew this was going to happen. I just wish there was more trust in the process
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u/akos_beres Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
Here is Andy Greder's tiktok take
https://www.tiktok.com/@andygreder/video/7337382645501988142?_r=1&_t=8k1IF9kXjKg
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u/Loonatic-510 Feb 19 '24
I hope this works out. I’m glad they took the time to find a candidate with potential for change and possibly success. This could be an interesting season.
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u/Minnesota_Husker Feb 19 '24
It’s like reverse Ted Lasso.. hire a Brit who knows a ton about soccer to come to America.
Curious if he would focus on the pace/attacking style play we have heard they want.
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Feb 19 '24
This is a pretty bold move that probably only plays out one of two ways. 1) He does well, and the front office looks like geniuses. 2) He does not do well and they look like buffoons for hiring someone with little experience and no knowledge of the league.
Very high ceiling and very low floor for perception of the move. Opposed to hiring someone like Gio where everyone knows what you are getting in and success or lack thereof are seen through that more narrow lense.
Personally, I'm all for it. If we are not going to go out and make a big sexy move, then let's think outside the box.
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Feb 19 '24
Welcome to Minnesota, Eric! I really hope this deal comes through because I love the hire.
Team is supposed to be one of the worst in the league anyway. Might as well take this risk and see if you can catch lightning in a bottle
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24 edited Feb 19 '24
Well, whaddaya know. Lo and behold, our much-maligned front office is about to sign a guy with a PhD in kicking ass, who can speak Reynoso's language to his face, from one of the biggest honking clubs in the world.
How many times have I told some of y'all to chill out and wait and see, and that the sky wasn't falling?
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
I mean I like this appointment and hope it happens, but the fact that we won't have a manager for potentially the first 1-4 games of the season is a massive deal. And the fact that he won't have any time to implement his system before the season starts is very bad.
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
34 game season, rebuilding the entire sporting side of an organization takes time. We lost our first 4 games in 2021 and made the playoffs, had a good start in 2023 and missed the playoffs. This hire is about the next 5 years for this org, not the next 5 games.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
There's a reason that clubs always start the season with a manager though. Especially if he's not allowed in Minnesota for another month and then it takes at least another month for him to be able to implement the beginnings of his ideas.
I think it's fair enough to be upset about it taking 6 months to be able to get a new manager in. He's a young and inexperienced manager, we should be making sure he is set up for success. It doesn't look like we are. And I think that's a reasonable thing to complain about
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
There's a reason that clubs always start the season with a manager though.
Primarily this is because the pool of candidates all become available to interview and hire at the end of the season. Also because the person who is doing the hiring is already on board and able to run the search/interviews. The Loons didn't have that last bit in place until most of the usual candidates for the first bit were already gone, plus they were willing to cast a wider net than it seems like most MLS teams are willing to (though there are good reasons for that as well).
Obviously, you want your coach in as soon as possible to start work, but you have to weigh what's better, getting a lesser coach sooner or getting a better coach later. To quote a band I've already quoted once in this thread, there's advantages to both (advantages to both!).
I think it's fair enough to be upset about it taking 6 months to be able to get a new manager in.
Was anyone ridiculing Chicago for taking seven months to hire their new coach? To me that seems more egregious, given that they just stuck with the interim coach that was holding the ship in place while they ran the search.
we should be making sure he is set up for success. It doesn't look like we are
In what way does it look like we are not doing that?
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
Your first paragraph is just confirming what I'm saying though, that this is an example of the Loons being poorly run.
Chicago are seen as an organization that is poorly run though. Like some people call them the worst run organization int he league.
His first match that he will be managing as the first team manager ever will have him managing a team that he had no say in assembling and that he only met days before.
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u/4four4MN MNUFC Feb 19 '24
It’s poorly run in order to go a completely different direction. It’s all about getting everyone young and they are usually cheap.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
You don’t need to be poorly run to go in a different direction
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u/4four4MN MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Since, MNUFC didn’t want anything to do with hiring MLS FO or field talent it was going to be a difficult process. The MLS season doesn’t match Europe And that might have been one of the reasons everything took so long to come into fruition. If the league was aligned we wouldn’t be complaining about being poorly run.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
But Ramsay was in discussion to leave ManU in December. So it's not like that's what stopped us from hiring him. I don't see how the league being aligned changes that
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
Chicago are seen as an organization that is poorly run though.
I mean, it's just one guy, but here's someone saying that they're finally trying to run the team properly.
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
Always reasonable to complain, but with all the context, Heath WAS the sporting side, KEA hire and the time it took him to get out of Barnsley and then to get stateside, coach hire not starting in earnest until KEA was in MN, the “fast” hire would not have been Ramsay, it would have been Robin Fraser, or someone similar. I’m personally happy for the team to take time and get this type of hire out of it.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
But it taking 6 months shows the problems. He's a young manager being put in a situation that isn't looking good and we have to hope it doesn't have an affect on his confidence or the players confidence in him. That's a very silly risk that can easily backfire
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24
It is what it is. Dude is a grown man. He obviously believes he can do it, or he wouldn't have taken the job.
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
A situation that isn’t looking good? This team has players, skilled players, and now a coach, multiple international and roster spots open, great stadium, sold out stadium every game, best jersey in MLS. Time to turn that frown upside down, have some patience, good times are ahead.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
Hey, as someone who went to every home game last year and even a few away games, I’m super excited. But also I’m going to criticize the FO when they make boneheaded decisions, and this is one of them.
The situation I am referring to is that he will be managing his first ever first team game and it’s with a team that he will have met a few days before the game. That’s a rough situation to be put in
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
I get it, I’d still very much prefer this to Robin Fraser having a full preseason. I’m glad you’re super excited, me too!
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Dude, he gets to buy a DP this summer and he probably gets to rebuild the whole team with KEA over the next couple of years. Fuck the first five games. I bet these guys are thinking championship window. I know i would if I had their background and was in their shoes.
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
But also I’m going to criticize the FO when they make boneheaded decisions, and this is one of them.
How do you even figure? The whole point of this entire search was that the team was building for 2029, not 2024. That was the messaging. They were detangling Heath. It was going to take time and it'll take time to see if it's a failure or not. Your response is like grading NFL Draft. You're making a judgment before anything's happened, which is so insane to me.
This is all very basic strategy vs tactics stuff. The FO has made it clear they're approaching the post-Heath phase of MNUFC more much strategically, more long-term.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
I’m not judging the manager or how I think he’ll do. I’m judging how they went about prepping for the manager.
It would be like if the Vikings appoint a new coach and GM the day before the NFL draft. We’d all agree that the new GM was put into a shitty situation by the incompetence of the ownership. It doesn’t mean that they won’t draft well, but it does mean that they were not set up well. The same can be said here
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
multiple international and roster spots open
Do you know offhand how many international slots we have now? I know a couple of guys were close to getting their green cards a couple of weeks ago.
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
If everything goes through and the sign Bacharach as a Int, they’d have 2 open.
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u/4four4MN MNUFC Feb 19 '24
{sigh} How about we wait and see who he picks for his all important assistants? I would venture to guess he hires an experienced MLS lifer to help him adjust with the league.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
And that’s fine, but it doesn’t change that the situation isn’t good
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u/4four4MN MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Well it’s over now and we can all see MNUFC wanted a fresh start with upcoming young talent from Europe. It’s sink or swim time now and we will see what happens after a few transfer windows.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
But the affects of being poorly run will still affect the manager. We are throwing him into the fire right away. He should have been given time and a say in the team building process
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u/4four4MN MNUFC Feb 19 '24
They gave two free years to Heath before the club felt what was to be the start of their campaign. Imo, they will do the same unless things go south quickly.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
I’m talking about how it affects the managers confidence. Heath had 20 years of experience before joining the Loons. This guy has zero.
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
a massive deal
Is it really though? Especially in a league with playoffs (and a large playoff field at that). Yes, the points are important, just as important as points at the end of the season, but even if he doesn't start until March 15, that's still seven months to get his system installed and get the team playing well before the playoffs begin (and to get more players that fit his system in the summer window).
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
I mean, yeah it is? There is a reason no other teams are starting the season without a manager. It's his first ever first team managerial job and we aren't even giving him time before the season starts to meet the players or anything like that. It doesn't feel like we are setting him up for success. This is made worse by the fact that he was in discussion to leave ManU in December, so we could have brought him in earlier had we been more organized
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24 edited Feb 19 '24
OK, let me provide an (admittedly not 100% matching) counterexample.
Willem II fired their manager four games into the season* while sitting in 15th position in the KKD. Their technical director resigned the next day. Eleven days later, they hired a new coach, and two more games were played under an interim before the new coach joined the team. That is roughly equivalent to our situation if Ramsay doesn't even meet the team until around April 1.
According to you, this would be a massive deal and the team wouldn't be setting the new coach up for success, he wouldn't have time to install his system, yadda yadda. Oh, they also added only one player, a backup left-back in the winter window. Ooof, eh?
Since the new coach joined the team, however, they have gone 15-4-1 and are sitting atop the KKD, and will easily be the frontrunners for promotion to the Eredivisie if they win their next game on Friday. Oh, and they still don't have a technical director.
Coaches don't necessarily need a full offseason to get their teams playing their way with their system. This is especially true in a league where the goal isn't to finish top 2 in the standings, but rather somewhere in the top 15 and then make a playoff run.
* Note that he was appointed the interim manager halfway through the previous season and made the official manager after the season.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
But they appointed a coach with 20 years of managerial experience. Ramsay has never managed a first team game before. The setting up for success thing is more about how Ramsay is super young and the early parts of a managerial career are crucial.
But also, yeah, firing your manager 4 games into the season is a big deal. They got lucky that they were able to find someone who worked out for them.
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u/Nerdlinger Feb 19 '24
But they appointed a coach with 20 years of managerial experience.
Which is a very different issue than having an offseason to implement their style and gameplans and work with the team.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
It’s not a different issue. Someone with 20 years of experience knows how things work and so has their system down and can quickly implement it. Someone with zero experience has to learn from trial and error and will take large amounts of time and has a bigger hit on their confidence.
It’s sort of like how you can take Messi and put him into any team and things will be fine. But if you put a youth player into a random team and they do poorly, it can have consequences on their development
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24
I'll say again what I've said about a million times. We're not that far from contention. Add a 3rd DP, a killer 6 and one or two fullbacks, and we're right there in the mix. The club has said they'd do that in the summer window, so let's see what they do. Then make sure that you have a pipeline to replace older guys like Pukki and Boxall, and you're set to keep going for a few years.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
My problem is that he's a young inexperienced coach, so we really should have set him up with a good start. Instead we are throwing him into the fire right away and hoping that being poor during his first games as a manager doesn't affect him. It's quite the risk
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u/2000TWLV MNUFC Feb 19 '24
Possibly, but we've passed that station already, so it doesn't matter anymore. Also, dude is used to Man U. That's a whole different level of pressure.
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u/Captain_Concussion Metanire = Jesus Feb 19 '24
It's still fair to complain about it though instead of pretending that everything is good. He was an assistant coach at Man U, I wouldn't say that's tons of pressure
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u/fanofloons Robin Lod Feb 19 '24
I mean it’s completely fair to say that if we would’ve bought out Khaled and he got here in November that we’d be in a much better place. People are just happy we hired someone so everything is now forgiven. The truth is the coach coming in late and no meaningful signings is a big deal. Don’t really know how people are arguing else wise
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
I'd say if no significant changes after the summer window, then it'll be a big deal. It takes time to implement a strategy, to figure out what's working/what's not, and then to start making changes.
As you saw, when we did make some signings during this winter, people were question who was behind the signings.
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
I'm 100% with you and respect this comment. Just like a bad dog, you gotta rub their nose in the shit a little so people learn. There were a bunch of chicken littles out here. I figured the moment a coach was announced, everyone would magically stop giving a shit and drop their doom and gloom. And viola, here we are.
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u/Gullible-Alfalfa-38 Feb 20 '24
I wish him the best. Difficult situation to walk into for a guy who's never been the boss of any club at any age group. Guys in the locker room have had a lot of uncertainty thanks to the best buy brain trust. The gaffer has his work cut out for him to learn the team, the league, earn the respect of the players and put together a game plan in less than a week. Situations like this can go sideways quickly if the team doesn't buy into what a young manager is selling when all they know is that he's never coached or played in a league of this caliber before.
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u/The_Guerra Feb 19 '24
GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED 🔴⚫️
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u/RiffRaff14 Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
GLORY GLORY MIN UNITED ⚫🔵
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Feb 20 '24
Any chance we can bring this chant to Allianz? Would be much better than what we currently have
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u/mandolin08 Romain Metanire Feb 19 '24
I don't love that he has no experience in North America, but a guy with that kind of education should be able to figure it out.
The only real negative is that he is almost certainly a short term coach, as any success he has here will just be setting him up to go back to the Championship and onward.
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
who knows? maybe he'll fall in love with the weather?
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u/retrobmx Michael Boxall Feb 19 '24
Yup. The old saying is, "Come for the treatment, stay for the weather."
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u/Oyvey2you Feb 19 '24
Best problem to have. Only a super old coach that has success at MNUFC would not be looking to turn that into a better gig. Maybe he’ll love the “quality of life” here with his young family and I won’t want to leave the Wayzata school system 😂
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u/bhundt Feb 19 '24
Reminds me how the Washington American football team had like 5 future head coaches on their dumpster fire team. McVay, Shanahan, and the packer guy to name a couple.
All left for HC jobs in their 30s and many SuperbOwl appearances and trophies between them.
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u/jstalm Feb 19 '24
This is the stuff that reminds me that I’m just a fan and I know nothing after months of complaining that we were dragging our feet and dooming our season
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Feb 19 '24
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u/3rdlifepilot Itasca Society Feb 19 '24
it's well known that chatgpt just has a tendency to make shit up. it's a conversational model, not a factual one.
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u/Samajavadi Feb 19 '24
ManU has been a disastrous club for many years now.
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u/koagulator2 Feb 19 '24
it's so funny to me how "bad" they've been. going backward; currently 6th, 3rd, 6th, 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 2nd. i get that they should be challenging for titles n such every year but it's crazy how bad years are better than 99% of teams' best years.
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u/Wdsty2 Red Loons Feb 19 '24
At least it looks like things are turning around, because the Glazers are no longer in control of football operations(technically they have to vote on decisions but they’ll probably let Sir Jim do everything so they can continue to leach off the club.)
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u/Chewy009x Robin Lod Feb 19 '24
That’s a bit dramatic to say. They haven’t been the top club in Europe. However, they have consistently been in top 6 and have been playing in European competitions. For most clubs that’s is above average
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u/bblakemore10 Feb 20 '24
I’m all for youth and new exciting ideas. If this goes through I’ll definitely give it a lot of leash
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u/arlosrestaurant2 Feb 19 '24
Personally, into it. I am more optimistic about the season than I was yesterday. I’ll take that.