For someone like Charlotte FC manager Miguel Angel Ramirez, who so obviously enjoys teaching the game, the real fun starts in Week 1.
As Charlotte approach their inaugural MLS match Saturday against D.C. United (6 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+), Ramirez feels he’s gotten everything he can out of the expansion side’s first preseason camp. It's only when that group steps onto the Audi Field pitch that the true learning begins.
“The game is always the best teacher. Always. Always the best coach is the competition,” Ramirez told reporters on Thursday. “So we are looking forward to have games every week to tell me what I need as a coach and what my team needs."
Since 2017, only LAFC have taken points from their first-ever MLS match, with Atlanta United, Minnesota United FC, FC Cincinnati, Nashville SC, Inter Miami CF and Austin FC absorbing opening losses in that span.
Perhaps knowing that history, Ramirez’s standards for a good performance Saturday don’t necessarily hinge on the final score.
“The ball can touch the post and go out or get in. So sometimes it’s luck,” Ramirez said. “But if I have the feeling that they are competing and we are able to win the game and to be close to the goal, being in the opposite half, controlling the tempo, this for me is a success. Because finally this can be in our hands. The result is never in our hands.”
Ramirez may not have the club’s first Designated Player signing, Poland national team forward Karol Swiderski, at his disposal.
Swiderski had to return to Poland to iron out a visa issue, and it’s unclear if he will return by Saturday’s game. But if he does, Ramirez wouldn’t rule out using him.
“He was training and in terms of understanding, he was in the preseason,” Ramirez explained. “I mean he’s ready, he’s ready to be with us.”
As for the rest of the group, Ramirez is cautious not to define roles on or off the field yet, given the learning that will happen from Saturday onward. But he believes their first month-plus together has established the culture needed for that process.
“We have an amazing group that is learning from the experience, from the trainings, from the games that we played,” Ramirez said. “We have a relationship already built to talk, to discuss, to share ideas, point of views so now they know me and they know that they are free. They don’t need to be scared to talk, to share ideas.”
