From Man Utd to Minnesota: Eric Ramsay on adjusting to life in MLS

Eric Ramsay was looking forward to Minnesota United’s toughest run of games since he was appointed head coach in March. A road trip with races in Colorado and Los Angeles in the space of five days before returning to Minnesota presented both a logistical and sporting challenge. Tight schedules and travel have caught many newcomers to MLS by surprise, but the former Manchester United assistant coach was eager to embrace that side of the league.

“Part of the appeal of this league to me, and part of the reason I wanted to take my first steps here as a head coach, was because some of the things we have to deal with are things you wouldn’t necessarily have. to deal with at home,” says Ramsay.

“Altitude, heat, geography, travel, back-to-back away games with no home time in between – these are all things that, from a rookie head coach’s perspective, really help you cut your teeth. It’s very intense and very different. There are not many competitions that offer you this variety.”

Minnesota United has started the 2024 season with promise. They are third in the Western Conference after fifteen games. Ramsay appeared in a few games into the season after his current assistant, Cameron Knowles, guided the team through the opening weeks while Ramsay waited for his work permit. Those first months were focused on teaching solidarity and tactical organization. Ramsay preaches the collective, but his side is driven by the creativity of attacking midfielder Robin Lod and the goal threat of Tani Oluwaseyi.

Oluwaseyi is having a breakout season. He scored 18 goals in 27 games on loan in the USL Championship for San Antonio FC last year and leads Minnesota in combined goal assists this season. He was recently named to Jesse Marsch’s first team as Canada’s coach. Ramsay calls Oluwaseyi an example of growing quality across the board in MLS.

‘There may not have been much expectation that he would respond [his season in USL] in the MLS this year, but he has done really well. I think the more cases you get of these types of players, who can visibly show that the difference in levels is not huge, you will get a much better idea of ​​a real pyramid,” he says.

The American sports landscape is different from most soccer leagues worldwide. There is no promotion or relegation, and leagues are made up of franchises rather than clubs. However, there is a feeling that football culture on both sides of the Atlantic is growing together. European leagues have salary caps and MLS-like super leagues at the highest level. At the lower levels, American clubs grow organically within communities rather than within markets, in the style of some older European clubs.

Ramsay has seen signs of this growth around Minnesota, ahead of a defining moment for the sport in the US – the Copa America starts this month and the 2026 World Cup is just around the corner.

“We are almost at the limit in terms of attendance every week with an audience that is full of energy,” says Ramsay. “There is a very strong supporter culture and you can feel that in the city. We’re not the biggest sport in America, but here it seems to be talked about the same way as the other sports.

“I think by the time these big international tournaments are over, I only see it going one way [the US] become one of the strongest football cultures and sporting environments in the world.”

While there will be some culture clashes as ideas about how to run football are exchanged across the Atlantic, the exchange of ideas between sports at coaching level is more symbiotic.

As football increasingly becomes a game of managing transitions from attack to defense, coaches are taking lessons from American sports where the transition game is more intense. Minnesota United’s good form ahead of back-to-back away games against Colorado Rapids and Los Angeles FC coincided with the Minnesota Timberwolves’ run in the NBA play-offs, where they reached the conference finals. Their coach, Chris Finch, started his coaching career in Great Britain with Sheffield Sharks before working his way up to the NBA.

Ramsay would like to use his time in America to learn how coaches work in the major American sports leagues. He speaks with Finch regularly and has been following the Timberwolves story this season, occasionally from courtside seats.

“I’m learning the ropes of basketball,” Ramsay says. “There are some parallels [with soccer] in how teams develop mismatches, how they think about the game from a one-on-one, individual versus individual perspective, and how to place individuals in the best circumstances within a game that is evolving so quickly.

“I think that’s maybe the biggest carryover, but in basketball there’s also a fair amount of carryover into set-play situations, like using screens and blocks to get people out. Especially in basketball and hockey, the transition from attack to defense happens so quickly, precisely because of the nature of the size of the playing field, that they have to execute those moments and transitions almost perfectly.

Off the field, Ramsay explores how he can adapt American sports language to his style.

“There are always terms and bits of language that can be transferred from one sport to another and can help you capture a concept in your sport that may currently be presented awkwardly,” says Ramsay. “It was part of the appeal of coming here because in Minnesota you have all the other major sports in America. Our sports director Khaled El-Ahmad is very big in his efforts to achieve cross-pollination within these sports. There’s a healthy flow of access to watching games and practices: I’ve been to hockey, basketball and baseball so far, with the NFL coming in a few months. I think I will benefit greatly from that by the time I leave, which is an opportunity that is very difficult to come by.

Regardless of the perceived quality of the game, or the pros and cons of the structure of soccer in the United States, it has reached new heights as an attractive destination to play and work. If Lionel Messi, one of the greatest players of all time, views American football as a destination ahead of other options, there must be something to it.

“I think for me it was as good timing as I could have hoped for, given the hype surrounding the game at the moment and the fact that the game certainly hasn’t matured yet,” Ramsay adds. “It has reached a level where you play in relatively full stadiums week after week. The infrastructure is really good, the atmosphere is very good and the level has risen enormously.”

There is also the appeal of the country itself. Has Ramsay had time to see much of America?

“I climbed the Rocky Steps in Philadelphia one morning, so hopefully we’ll have checked off a few of the iconic places and cultural pieces by the time I leave here,” says Ramsay. “On a trip like this, where we leave from Colorado and then spend three days in LA, we will definitely see a bit of LA and we will train at their training ground for a few days.

“This goes beyond just the sporting aspect. It is a very nice life experience for me and my family, with two young children. I think the chance to see America and the chance to do something completely different as a family and have a bit of an adventure was definitely part of the appeal.”

Embracing the uniqueness of American football and the surrounding sporting landscape can pay big dividends for a young coach. For Ramsay, who was highly rated at Manchester United and the Wales national team, the opportunity to learn his trade in a distinctive environment is what made MLS so attractive.