Miguel Ramírez: "I want my first win, against Atlanta, in Atlanta’s house"

CHARLOTTE – All eyes are on the anticipated matchup between Charlotte FC and Atlanta United on Sunday. While there is a certainly a rivalry brewing between the clubs, Ramírez stresses that it doesn’t change how they are preparing for the match.

“You need to prepare the team with the “what” and the next opponent, in this case Atlanta, is telling us the “how”, how to do it. We want to play one way and we develop this way of playing every day but how we do it is defined by the opponent.”

“When we analyze the opponent, we decide the gameplan to be more efficient and competitive, attacking and defending. Because not every team attacks or defends the same way, we need to change something, we can’t do the same thing every week because every opponent is different.”

Ramírez expects to come up against an Atlanta team that wants to play with the ball and are organized and aggressive on defense.

“They are so good technically on the ball. They play to play, they want to play. They are able to link the different lines because they have the quality to do it. Defending they are always compact; it will be difficult for us to find the spaces. They are also aggressive.”

Earlier this morning, the club announced the signing of Kamil Jóźwiak, a dynamic winger who is coming from Derby County in the English Championship.

“First and foremost, Kamil is an excellent professional, we have gotten so many good references for him... And, Karol has told us how great of a teammate he is. He’s a winger that can be used in many different ways."

"He’s able to play in highly congested areas, because he has that technical ability to drive and create chances. He didn’t score many goals for Derby, looking at those stats you have to see if the system he played in him helped him get scoring opportunities."

“I think he [Józwiak] can be big goal scorer for us... This has happened with me many times, they [players] didn’t have many goals in their previous clubs, but it was because their club didn’t produce much on the attacking front."

Jóźwiak was brought in as an attacking reinforcement for a team that has struggled to score in the early stages of the season. Being goalless throughout their first two games is harsh considering some of the great chances the team has created. But whether it's because a ball was mishit or it hit the post, the team is still awaiting their first-ever MLS goal.

“Of course, it's frustrating, because goals are the point of the game. It’s what everybody expects, wants, and likes.

“I believe we deserve [goals]. But, as I said before the competition started, sometimes it’s a matter of luck and we are not in this moment of ‘post and goal’. We are in this moment of ‘post and out’. Hopefully, in one moment, it will change.

“I swear to you, we are working on this. We are working on last third and on finishing. But, sometimes, the lie and the truth of football is that sometimes you don’t train [attacking] at all and you score 5 goals in the week. This is the truth of the game.”

The approach to training and preparation hasn’t changed for the team, but there is no denying that this game means something extra to not only the fans, but for Ramírez and his players.

“I was the first to talk about it to my players. I said, ‘I want my first win against Atlanta in Atlanta’s house’. I said to them that never will it motivate me more than to have our first win in Atlanta’s house.”