Eric Ramsay believes Manchester United have all the ingredients to go to the next level under Ineos – but Erik ten Hag’s former coach felt he had to leave for a dream first managerial job at Minnesota United.
The 32-year-old swapped Uniteds following March’s derby defeat at Manchester City, with his move to the Twin Cities seeing him become the youngest permanent manager in Major League Soccer history.
It is an exciting new chapter in an impressive coaching journey that led Ramsay to Swansea, Shrewsbury and Chelsea before joining Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s coaching set-up in June 2021.
Initially focused on individual players and set-plays, the Welshman’s remit broadened over time and he is looking forward to putting his experiences into practice as Minnesota’s second-ever head coach.
“I have never been desperate to be a head coach by a certain age or a certain point,” Ramsay told the PA news agency ahead of his first match in charge against Los Angeles FC this weekend.
“But I felt naturally I was sort of gravitating toward that opportunity coming.
“I’ve had some opportunities over the course of the last two years to go into the Championship or League One and for whatever reason haven’t pursued those.
“The club itself is phenomenally well set up. The ownership is really stable. I think that’s incredibly attractive for a first-time head coach.
“From a club perspective, the league and the wider US context, in terms of the competitions being held here in the coming years, the general feel around the sport, I think it’s as perfect an opportunity as I’ll get.”
Ramsay also had a stint working with Wales during his time at United, where he felt like he squeezed in a lot at an institution that garners “endless attention” and “feels like no other club”.
The 32-year-old never got caught up in the background noise – “if you as a coach were to be too drawn into that then you’d lose focus on what you’re there to do” – and enjoyed his time there despite the difficult spells.
“To have the opportunity to be one step removed from three managers and Michael Carrick, working at Man United over two-and-a-half years, I don’t think you’re getting better preparation for your own role as head coach because it’s a really trying set of circumstances with a lot of intensity,” Ramsay said.
“(Erik) is obviously incredibly focused, has real conviction as to how he wants the team to play, how he feels the group should be managed, as you’d expect of anyone who hits that level as a manager.
“Obviously, he’s had some difficult circumstances to deal with this year, so hopefully once that gets cleaned up then we’re going to see the trajectory recaptured that we saw last year.”
Injuries have proven the main difficulty in a bumpy season and Ten Hag is under the spotlight heading into Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final against rivals Liverpool.
But Ramsay is confident better times lie around the corner at Old Trafford, having been impressed by new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos team.
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“As has been presented in the media and as I’m sure you’ve heard lots of people say, the Ineos vision for Man United is really exciting,” Ramsay said.
“They, as well, have a lot of conviction in how elite sports teams should look and feel.
“There is a genuine Ineos way that I think the combination of that and the way in which Erik wants to operate, it could be a really exciting combination.
“I think you’ve got some phenomenally bright people now attached to the club, through the likes of Dave Brailsford and the people that they will inevitably bring in to wrap around the existing structure.
“So, I do think all the ingredients are there for the club to really move on to the next level.
“I said this to the Ineos guys as I was leaving, I’m loathed in some senses (to go) because I think I was probably a nice fit for the way in which they wanted to go about things.
“I felt like it would take a lot from them and their way of working.
“But, personally, I felt like this opportunity from my individual perspective was one that I couldn’t turn down in spite of all that positivity around the club.”
'I love where I am,' says Simeone after 700th game in charge of Atletico
Diego Simeone said he is "calm and at peace" at Atletico Madrid after his side edged Deportivo Alaves 2-1 in LaLiga in his 700th game in charge of the club.
Atletico went behind through a Jon Guridi penalty in the seventh minute, but Antoine Griezmann drew them level from the spot in the 76th minute.
The winner came via Alexander Sorloth in the 86th minute as Atletico moved four points behind leaders Barcelona.
Simeone, who has been in charge of Atletico since 2011, is the first coach to manage 700 matches with the same LaLiga club.
"I live in the present, we are having a good time, the boys are working very responsibly," Simeone told DAZN.
"I am calm and at peace. I love where I am and that's it."
He managed Atletico to LaLiga title triumphs in 2014 and 2021 and also helped Los Rojiblancos win two Europa League titles in 2012 and 2018.
The game against Alaves was Simeone's 492nd LaLiga match in charge, and the Argentine has also managed the third-most games with a single club in the Champions League (109), after Alex Ferguson with Manchester United and Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
AC Milan 0-0 Juventus: Bianconeri maintain unbeaten start after Rossoneri stalemate
AC Milan and Juventus shared the spoils following a dour goalless draw at San Siro.
The Bianconeri maintained their unbeaten start to the Serie A season, but missed the chance to go second behind leaders Inter after a game lacking in quality and chances.
With the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik out injured, Juventus began the game without a recognised striker, as Teun Koopmeiners and Weston McKennie led the line.
Koopmeiners hit the side-netting from a tight angle after 10 minutes, while Kenan Yildiz grazed the post following a fine individual run midway through the half.
Alvaro Morata had Milan's best chance at the other end, but the former Juventus striker could only head wide from Rafael Leao's free-kick.
Opportunities did not fall as freely in the second half either, and both teams left the field to a chorus of boos on the referee's final whistle.
Data Debrief: Stubborn Juve take clean sheet tally into double figures
Juve are the first team to register 10 clean sheets in their opening 13 matches of a Serie A season since Roma (also 10) in 2013-14.
The Bianconeri have also kept five clean sheets in their first six away league games in a campaign for only the fourth time, also achieving the feat in 1967-68, 2004-05, 2023-24.
Meanwhile, Thiago Motta is only the fifth Juventus manager to go unbeaten in his first 13 league matches in charge (won six, drawn seven), after Jesse Carver, Cestmir Vycpalek, Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri.
Manchester City 0-4 Tottenham: Guardiola's champions humiliated in fifth straight loss
Manchester City's losing streak stretched to five games across all competitions as Tottenham stunned the Premier League champions with a 4-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium.
On his 28th birthday, James Maddison scored twice in the first 20 minutes as Ange Postecoglou's visitors caught out their hosts on the counterattack.
Maddison was found unmarked at the far post by Dejan Kulusevski for his opener, then exchanged passes with Son Heung-min and dinked a fine finish over Ederson for his second.
City continued to dominate possession but struggled to find a killer pass, and their hopes of a second-half fightback were dashed when Pedro Porro – who spent three years as a City player between 2019 and 2022 – capped another lightning break early in the second half.
Erling Haaland clipped the crossbar but that was as close as City came to making it competitive, with Brennan Johnson completing the rout following fine work from Timo Werner, as the worst run of Pep Guardiola's managerial career continued.
Second-placed City could now find themselves eight points adrift of the summit after Liverpool’s trip to Southampton on Sunday.
Tottenham, meanwhile, climbed to sixth in the table, four points behind City.
Data Debrief: Uncharted territory for Pep
City have now lost five straight matches in all competitions, including two versus Tottenham after they were also beaten in the EFL Cup last month.
They are the first reigning top-flight English champions to lose five games in a row since Chelsea did so in March 1956.
This is the worst losing streak of Guardiola's glittering managerial career, with City last losing six in a row under Stuart Pearce in 2006.
Should their dismal run continue at Liverpool in eight days' time, their title defence may be in tatters before the festive season has even begun.
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