This year, for the first time in nearly two decades, Tab Ramos found himself with more time on his hands.
The Houston Dynamo refused to sign the head coach to a new contract after his two-year deal ended at the end of 2021, as it essentially ended what has been coaching the team since 2004. For more information, Ramos has three external hard drives’ worth of footage, regiment training plans, player reports, and other documents stored for him to review. I was doing it.
Ultimately, after eight months of reflection, Ramos reduced the clutter.
“In the world of coaching, if you say a few years, you start to fall far behind,” Ramos said. athletic On Monday, he said, “This[time between jobs]has given me the opportunity to simplify all the things I’ve been doing for the last 15-17 years that I don’t really need. It’s been part of my move.” It shouldn’t be the department. Before anyway.”
The suspension finally ended this week as Ramos was announced as Hartford Athletic’s next head coach. USL Championship His club made his debut in 2019 and qualified for the postseason in his second season, but the club failed to replicate that feat in his 2021 season. Additional match for the first time in 4 years.
After former head coach Harry Watling stepped down in late June, Hartford spent two months searching for a replacement. Ramos was the frontrunner for the role throughout the process. He hoped another of his MLS teams would come for his services, but Hartford’s Bruce’s conversations with Chairman Mandel and the rest of the board got him excited about the project. .
“This opportunity came along and at that point it didn’t matter that it was the USL and not the MLS,” Ramos said. “I think it’s time to get back on the field. I’m not waiting for someone to call me. Especially in this particular situation at this particular club, almost two and a half months, three months. They’ve been consistently showing interest the whole time I feel like they’re wanted here I think it’s a good project The owners want to make changes to keep the difference to the top teams I think they’re really committed to shrinking it, it’s going to take time but they’re committed, they know it’s not going to happen overnight, I’m totally on board and I am really happy about that.”
After more than a decade in US football, coaching the U-20 program and serving as an assistant under Jürgen Klinsmann, Ramos pivoted to the club’s side of the game when Houston appointed him ahead of the 2020 season. I moved my feet.
“The most important thing is that I like[to coach at the club]. It’s like I’m not around,” Ramos said. “Working in a club environment is much better. I think you have to prioritize working with them and shaping them into what you need.
“In the national team it’s actually very easy to eliminate players if they don’t do what they ask. If someone isn’t dynamic enough to cover the type of ground you want to cover, Press the specific way you want to press.Most of the time you can change them to something else.At the club level you obviously can’t do that, right?You have to work harder – to be honest And I prefer that.”
Houston won just 10 wins in two years as a manager, but will be remembered as the coach who led the team through a major turning point. While dealing with the global pandemic, Houston sold ownership, renewed the brand and fired longtime general manager Matt Jordan. I chose to bring in another head coach for the start of the era.
Looking back at my hard drive, I could physically remember all the experiences Ramos brought to Dynamo from US Soccer. It also made me realize that he needs to evolve as a coach.
“We can always find excuses, right?” Ramos said of his time in Houston. “It’s simple. If I had the best player in the world, I would have won. But if they did, they would have won before I got there and they wouldn’t have hired me in the first place. I think the lesson is to be more flexible.I really thought I had my own way of playing and that was the only way to play.I’m very organized and detail oriented so I drill down to everyone I want the players to have very specific functions, I said[to ownership]I want to play a certain way, I want to stick to my word. Sometimes you just have to find a way to win the game by bragging, and I wasn’t good enough.”
Ramos said he is looking forward to incorporating that flexibility into the Hartford squad. serve. Ramos, who is scheduled to head the team first against FC Tulsa on September 10, called on him to evaluate the current roster and determine who he could take in his first full season. will play 6 games.
Perhaps fortunately, Ramos can make its first foray into acquisition and player identification without worrying about the maze of MLS roster rules.
“I think the adjustment for me is figuring out how far we can go with the new budget,” Ramos said. “We want to build a winning club here, but we also want to close the gap to the top teams like Phoenix, Louisville, Sacramento, Tampa Bay. , it’s not that we couldn’t beat them or that we couldn’t beat them, it’s just that it takes time for the club to get to that level (the respected level). Start filling in the gaps.
“Ownership is committed to making changes. It’s a brand new club and we haven’t had a great experience so far. I think it’s a great opportunity to build a solid foundation.”
Ramos is set to announce his main assistant by the end of the week, but praised the ownership that allowed him to choose someone he truly trusted and wanted at the club. It should come as no surprise that he has already identified the USL heavyweights, as he said he has had conversations with a number of people who worked in the league to do so.
Long known for his player development expertise, Ramos fell short of committing to a youth movement in Hartford.
“I can’t say[the young people]influence me in any way in terms of choosing a team,” Ramos said. “At the moment we are going to pick the best players we can. still has a lot to learn.”
Ramos will step into the USL at 540 minutes, but will soon return to his familiar role during the offseason.
In early August, Telemundo confirmed that Ramos would be back. roster of commentators Men’s World Cup for the second year in a row. A legend in the US program with 81 caps and his own right in his three world cups, it’s a quota he’s thrilled to have won again.
“The World Cup is the greatest thing in the world,” Ramos said. “I am very lucky to be involved in it, especially because I got to work with Diego Forlán and some great people I worked with last time. I have more experience as an analyst compared to 2018. Last time I came from the U-20 national team.I’m looking forward to the future.”
His performances in Russia helped him earn another tournament on the mic, but it didn’t get him to the point where he would consider a full-time pivot from coaching to commentary.
“I didn’t want to limit my thinking to a particular weekend game,” Ramos said. “When you’re an analyst, you really have to prepare for one game. If you have Tottenham and Manchester United this weekend, really study them and everything that can happen in that particular match. I wanted to stay open to watch all of the EPL, all of the MLS, and I felt like if I got a job like that, I would narrow myself down too quickly. I wasn’t ready for it yet.”
It’s a role Ramos enjoys, even if it’s a one-month assignment rather than a career change. In 1994 he was a member of the USMNT, and although they made it through the group stage at home, he continues to monitor the current side as they prepare for Group B matches against England, Iran and Wales.
As someone fully aware of the pressures and expectations of the World Cup, Ramos remains optimistic about what the United States will do.
“I’m starting now. Every World Cup is a tough one,” Ramos said. “We’ve come a long way[as a national team programme]and we have good players. Now, obviously in the first round he can either win all three games or lose all three. can also do.
“That said, I have high hopes. Outside of England, I think we are the best team in the group. I think England will struggle with us. Like I said. Anything can happen, but I believe in our team.I definitely believe we are the second most talented team in the group. Depending on the crossover, it could be (leading to a match against) the Netherlands (who finished second in the group), I think we’ll have a good game for them, it doesn’t scare me, it’s the Americans , looking at the national team, the Dutch don’t scare me, I think we can do really well.”
(Photo: Eric Bolte / USA TODAY Sports)
