When Charlotte FC fired head coach Miguel Ángel Ramírez just 14 games into its first season in MLS, it was seen as quite a shock.
After all, Ramírez had done an admirable job on the pitch, leading his team to a respectable 5-8-1 record despite the kind of thin squad typical of expansion teams.
For Christian Fuchs, though, Ramírez’s firing wasn’t a shock. It was a relief.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, the Charlotte FC left back did not hold back on his former boss, saying his firing went far beyond on-field results.
There were plenty of grievances Fuchs aired out, starting with a lack of post-game analysis.
“It’s so important with a young group to address the players. To use a loss in your benefit, to have post-match analysis. What did we do well, what did we not do well. That’s how you improve a team. That’s just the process. That was nonexistent [under Ramirez]. I’m looking forward to more of that now.”
There was also an alleged lack of willingness to respond to issues Charlotte players would bring up.
“I did not get the sense of Miguel willing to address [the players’] concerns. He wanted to brush them off and not deal with them. At some point, I just kept those conversations to myself.”
And then there was the matter of Fuchs’ own personal relationship with Ramírez.
“My relationship [with Ramírez] was, erm, an interesting one. It was not easy. … The issue is when you tried to address a problem, most of the times, the door was shut. And that didn’t feel good. … It was discouraging.”
“For me, it was an overall disappointment in terms of him not being able to really connect with us.”
It should be noted that not all players likely share the sentiments that Fuchs displayed. Some even went to Ramírez’s home after he was sacked to show support.