Miguel Ramírez: "The group that we have is super competitive"

CHARLOTTE – It was recently shared that Charlotte FC has had the 4th best start for an expansion team since 2010. An impressive feat that head coach Miguel Ramírez attributes to his squad’s competitiveness.

“The group that we have is super competitive, they want to win in every training session, in every drill. This is something that you transfer to the game. They are really disappointed when they lose.

“They work so well. They are always focused, they pay attention, they are clever guys the understand the game plan and the responsibilities they have in the game. I believe this is the main strength of this group.”

As Ramírez has reiterated on several occasions, he’s a firm believer in just focusing on the next game at hand. That next game is the New England Revolution, which is the first of four away matches the Club will play in succession.

“I invite the team not to think four games or 3 weeks away... I said listen, let’s go for the first one... Forget about next week and try and try to be competitive in this game. When we get the feedback of this game, then we prepare for the next one. Like that. If not, we will get crazy thinking what we have in one month and for that isn’t useful at all.”

The team has a tough month ahead of them but has received some reinforcement in the form of winger, Kamil Jóźwiak, who has acclimated well to the trainings and his teammates in his first week at the Club. Ramírez on how it’s been having him finally in town and the positional versatility he brings.

“Really good. He suffered a little bit the first day, just learning in training and the game model. But straight away on the second day, he was really good. Today again. So, he’s doing very good, he’s a nice guy.

“The good thing about Kamil is that he can play in many different positions. He can play as a second striker, wingback, midfield, and this is all positive. It [the position he’ll play] will depend on the needs that we have... but it is something knowing him more in the day-to-day activities I will help me make better decisions.

“It’s never the same when you know the player close in the training. With this information, I will have a better picture. But he’s available, he can go with us. Let’s see, we have one more training, to get more information. But yeah, he’s ready.”

Ramírez cautions that Saturday’s rematch against the Revolution won’t be the same type of match and will require an entirely different game plan.

“There are never identical games even if it is the same opponent. The game is too open and there are many distinct situations in every game. There are never the same game plans, no matter how similar they are, there will never be identical game plans.

“We see this as a challenge, we are going to try and get points away from home. That’s our next challenge, we’re focused, and know very clearly what we want”