Casemiro was pleasantly surprised when meeting Manchester United coach Eric Ramsay for the first time at Carrington last year. That's because although Casemiro was unable to speak English, he was greeted by Ramsay, who speaks fluent Spanish.
It's unusual for British coaches to fluently speak another language, but there is a feeling among those who have spent time with Ramsay on his journey to becoming an integral part of Erik ten Hag's coaching staff, that he is not an ordinary coach.
Ramsay was born in Oswestry, a small town close to the Welsh border, and he spent his formative years growing up in Llanfyllin, Wales, but it didn't take long for his attention to turn to coaching due to a professional playing career being deemed unlikely.
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Although the door closed on a professional playing career for Ramsay, he forced another door to open in coaching and his journey in the game has since taken him to Loughborough, Swansea City, Shrewsbury, Chelsea and now Old Trafford.
Professor Chris Cushion met Ramsay for the first time when he was studying for a Sport Science with Management degree at Loughborough and he took the aspiring, ambitious young coach onboard the university football team's staff.
Cushion was the assistant coach at Loughborough, but he was supported by a supremely talented backroom staff of Ramsay, Kieran McKenna, now manager of Ipswich Town, and Matt Prestridge, now first-team coach at Watford.
"Loughborough is a really good place for players, but also coaches and analysts before entering the professional game and part of our role there was to bring in aspiring young coaches to work with the team," Cushion told the Manchester Evening News.
"We ran the team for three years and had our highest-ever non-league finish, we won one league cup, we were university champions and had a really successful period and we took on Kieran McKenna, Matt Prestridge and Eric for that role.
"We were really happy that those guys came on board. It was a mentoring opportunity and I know we’re here to talk about Eric, but Kieran [McKenna] was an unbelievably good coach, even back then. He was probably one of the most talented kids I’ve seen."
McKenna and Ramsay eventually crossed paths again, years later, at United after spending time together at Loughborough. Ramsay was given a glowing endorsement from his former colleague and he joined Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's staff in July 2021.
Solskjaer said the club had been fortunate enough to convince Ramsay, who he described as 'young, fresh and an innovative coach', to join, whilst it was also confirmed that he would work with individuals and be in charge of set plays.
"It doesn’t surprise me that all three of them [Ramsay, McKenna and Prestridge] have been successful in the professional game," Cushion added. "I think the common trait they all share was that they have an unbelievable passion for the sport.
"Their desire to learn, just thinking about the game and coaching all the time. They all had great relationships with the players and were able to connect with the players in a really meaningful way. They built powerful connections.
"They were not only really, really good technically, but they had a real passion for it and they were students of the game. Eric is a really clever, switched-on guy, but he’s able to communicate with players in an authentic way.
"There’s a lot of intelligence behind there, but he doesn’t talk down, he just communicates effectively and that’s really important when you’re coaching, as you need to pitch the message to the people who are standing in front of you."
Ramsay, who is a 'family man' and who has a passion for fitness, was able to forge such connections at Loughborough due to his personality and sources have indicated he's also been able to build an excellent rapport with players at Carrington.
His huge dedication to his role as first-team coach at United, which includes long hours, has been noted by key figures and it's understood his ability to fluently speak Spanish has led to great relationships with foreign players.
Sources have suggested Ramsay has a perfect balance of authority and friendliness, whilst his presence on the training ground has been described as uplifting. He also has an excellent tactical brain, which was developed at Loughborough.
"At Loughborough, the coaching staff had different responsibilities for different aspects, whether that be the tactical game plan, preparation, or specific tactical pieces and we would subdivide the work," Cushion explained.
"Some aspects of that, Eric would lead with and some he'd help with, but we were very tactically focused. As a university, we wanted to challenge the players and be very different, so we experimented and had a big tactical focus.
"I would say in terms of that tactical analysis, then putting that into training sessions is something he was very good at. I can remember when Eric was at Swansea, telling us their first-team didn’t do as much tactical work as Loughborough.
"We played with lots of different tactical analysis and ways of playing, we were very different in the division and the training reflected that. I would say he picked up on that well, although he’s got a good reputation for working with individual payers as well.
"That individual, technical development is something that he’s grown to be good at. You need to have relationships with players for that, as they need to trust you and you must have something to offer. It’s not about telling players, it’s a dialogue."
Cushion then proceeded to discuss the style of play that was implemented at Loughborough and he reflected on Ramsay's principles in coaching. "We were very possession-based, we played out from the back and played through the thirds," he said.
"Not necessarily a high press, but looking for pressing triggers. We’d look for things that would trigger a press, so I would suggest he’s a possession-based, ball-playing type of coach. I would say that style would please Eric Ramsay.
"I think that would be the type of football he’d want to see in his team. We still have chats now about stuff. At the level we were working at, he’d work on all of the units, so the defensive shape, the midfield and attacking players."
Ramsay graduated from Loughborough in 2013 with a first-class honours degree at 21 years old and, shortly after leaving university, he became the youngest Under-18 coach in the Premier League when joining Swansea City.
He spent three-and-a-half years with Swansea - where he spent time with the Under-21s before managing the U18s - before eventually making the move to his hometown club Shrewsbury, to become their head of academy and coaching.
Ramsay was making tremendous progress in the game, despite being a young coach. "I think it's definitely been his underpinning understanding and knowledge of the game and a willingness to stay contemporary," Cushion said.
"He has the willingness to understand how the game evolves. He is clearly able to build relationships with players and the people around him. He's simply good at what he does and it’s really interesting if you look at how Chelsea cherry-pick coaches.
"They kind of recruit by looking at who is doing a good job and that’s basically what happened with Eric at Shrewsbury, they saw something in him, they knew he had potential. That doesn’t happen unless you’re good, to attract that kind of interest."
Ramsay returned to Shrewsbury to oversee their academy, where he 'raised their youth system to a new level', but a year later, he was thrown into a first-team environment for the first time when the club sacked their manager in November 2018.
After that sacking, Ramsay took joint-temporary charge of Shrewsbury for six games and he was retained after the permanent appointment of Sam Ricketts, who represented the likes of Swansea, Hull, Bolton and Wolves in his playing career.
The transition was made easier by Ricketts already knowing Ramsay from studying for their UEFA Pro Licence together. "Back then, my first impression of Eric was someone who was very articulate, a very good student," Ricketts told the MEN.
"He had a very good personality, someone who was keen to learn and who you'd be quite happy to sit down and chat with, which we did many times. It’s funny because six months after we started the Pro Licence, I went to Shrewsbury where Eric was.
"I ended up working with him and when I arrived, he’d been in the academy and he was put in temporary charge as first-team coach. He was the caretaker manager because all the staff had gone, so he stepped up to take training.
"I already knew him and I kept him onboard, as a first-team coach. He had a good relationship with the players, they enjoyed his sessions, they were well-organised and thought out. They liked him as a person - there’s really nothing to dislike about him.
"He’s very good like that. During our time, I would coach the team as well as him, so we’d share elements of the session and it would be a collaboration. I’d say what I wanted to work on and he’d produce a session to run alongside that.
"He had great knowledge, good understanding and top sessions. When you’re down at that level, the beauty of it is you don’t have an abundance of staff, so Eric would have got involved in the analysis of the games, and reviews."
Ramsay's communication skills impressed university staff during his time at Loughborough and Ricketts also agreed that his strong presence on the training ground helped make him a valued part of his backroom team at Shrewsbury.
"What stood out? His character, his personality, a good way about him and getting information across," Ricketts said. "He had a good way of managing a session and knowing what we were looking to achieve from that particular training session.
"His tone of voice was good and he understood how we wanted the session to be intensity-wise. He’s also got an amazing whistle and believe it or not, that’s actually really good to have as a coach. He just has a really loud, sharp whistle.
"I know it sounds stupid, but it’s something that is so simple, but very effective in gaining attention when you want it."
Shrewsbury eventually retained their League One status and the highlight of that largely disappointing season was their FA Cup campaign, which saw the club force Wolves to a replay in the fourth round of England's oldest cup competition.
Ramsay played his part in steering Shrewsbury through that turbulent period and a move to Chelsea's academy would come next.
"We stayed up, the FA Cup run was good, as we beat some decent teams along the way," Ricketts added. "Eric was very good and he did well that season, but when Chelsea came in, I actually thought it was a really good move for him.
"Going to a big club, it was good for his coaching career because he didn’t have a playing background. I think it was great he came through Shrewsbury at that level and then to experience what a Premier League side and what a big club is like.
"It was a chance to see how it’s run, with the different facets of staff and how that works, so I thought it was a really good move for him and I told him he should go and enjoy it. He would have gone anyways, to be fair, but it made sense for him."
Ramsay was 'cherry-picked' by Chelsea and he became the assistant manager of their Under-23 team. He spent two years at Cobham and then had the opportunity to relocate north to Manchester following a recommendation from McKenna.
The young coach was brought on by Solskjaer, but just months later, the Norwegian was sacked following a string of dreadful results. Ralf Rangnick was appointed on an interim basis and McKenna, Martyn Pert and Michael Carrick exited the club.
Ramsay remained on the coaching staff and it's understood Rangnick took a hands-off approach with set pieces during his interim tenure, which meant the bulk of sessions working on set pieces on the training ground were left to him.
Much has been made of the team's record at set-pieces, but Ramsay has taken on a much wider role since the arrival of Ten Hag, who wanted to keep him on his backroom staff alongside assistants Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren.
Ramsay has since graduated from his set-piece role at the club and it's understood he now has a much wider berth as a first-team coach, which has seen him take the majority of training sessions alongside Van der Gaag and Darren Fletcher.
Sources have indicated Ramsay now has a pivotal role in preparing the squad to win games and an increased role in planning and taking sessions. Ten Hag drives the group tactically and Ramsay is one of a group of coaches that echoes his messages.
The coaching process has been described as 'collaborative' and Ramsay works closely with Van der Gaag, McClaren and Fletcher to execute the plan at Carrington, which has enabled the club to head in the right direction in the league.
Ramsay is also no longer solely responsible for set-pieces. Sources have described Ten Hag as 'much more involved' in set-pieces than previous managers and it's understood to be a collaborative process, enhanced by the recent hiring of a set-play analyst.
All the coaches work with the set-play analyst, not just Ramsay, although when Marcus Rashford scored from an innovative corner routine against Nottingham Forest in December, provider Christian Eriksen hailed Ramsay for having the idea.
His importance at United was also emphasised in January when Blackpool offered Ramsay a permanent manager position. Sources indicated Ten Hag showed a desire for him to stay and that played a pivotal role in his decision to turn it down.
Ramsay is respected and liked among players and Ricketts believes his ability to speak fluent Spanish has contributed to his continued progress at United. "He's able to talk to the foreign lads in their native language and that is important," he added.
"You get players coming across that don’t speak any English and he can interpret, or get his session across as well and speak to that player. It’s one thing players speaking to players, but it’s nice to be able to speak to the coaching staff as well.
"I think the first move was a good one, coming in as set-piece coach and gradually he’s proved himself at Man United and his role has got bigger over time, which probably tells you more than anything that he’s there learning and improving himself."
Ramsay was visibly delighted when United won the Carabao Cup at Wembley in February. The trophy represented the first piece of silverware in his career and he reached another personal milestone when joining Wales' national team a week later.
The young coach said he 'feels at home' within the Welsh national set-up and he admitted it had been a lifelong aspiration. Ricketts also felt it was a natural progression for Ramsay, who played in the Welsh football system before focusing on coaching.
"We did all of our coaching badges with the Welsh FA, so he’s well known within the Welsh system for a number of reasons," Ricketts said. "He’s done plenty with the Welsh coaching system and it was just a natural progression for him.
"Welsh coaching badges are very good and, especially with a Welsh background and Eric ticked all of those boxes."
It's understood Ramsay sought permission from Ten Hag and United before taking the role with Wales and he's now essentially assistant head coach for their national team, taking up a position similar to Van der Gaag's at club level.
Sources have described Ramsay's new role with Wales as 'really significant' and Cushion, who recognised Ramsay's potential during his early years studying at Loughborough and who still regularly talks with him, has been delighted with his progress.
"He’s just a thoroughly nice young man," Cushion said. "I know that sounds a bit cheesy, no one’s going to say he’s a complete w***** but he’s not, he’s a genuinely a great guy, he genuinely cares about others and I think he thoroughly deserves his success."
Ramsay has worked hard for that success and it seems inevitable there will be more to come in the future.
United believe they have one of the best young coaches in the game.
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