Without Ramos, team looks to snap skid
It would be difficult to find a coach who likes to be more hands-on and who likes to fine-tune tiny details than Dynamo coach Tab Ramos.
So when the Dynamo kick off against Minnesota United on Saturday night at BBVA Stadium and Ramos is more than 1,500 miles away, it will be as difficult a spot as he’s ever been in.
The Dynamo (3-8-10, 19 points) will try to snap their 14-game winless streak without Ramos on the sideline. He has traveled to New Jersey because of a medical emergency concerning a family member.
Assistant Omid Namazi will serve as the Dynamo’s coach against Minnesota (76-7, 28 points).
“Obviously, when you have a family situation like this, that’s what’s most important, but at the same time, I know the situation we’re (the Dynamo) in, and I feel it,” Ramos said. “Had we been right now in the middle of the table and in a comfortable spot, it would be no question to just step away and do what you have to do.
“In this situation, I really have to think about it because you don’t want to jump off the wagon at a bad moment. This is the moment for us to unite and be together more than ever, and yet, unfortunately, this situation pulled me away.”
Ramos left Houston early this week but remained in contact with the rest of the technical staff every day. He will be in touch before and during Saturday’s game, too.
The Dynamo bench typically receives input from staff watching games from higher in the stadium, and that will be the case again on Saturday. In this case, however, Ramos will be sending messages to the staff in the coach’s box.
If a decision needs to be made on the fly, however, Namazi will be the one to make it.
Namazi and Ramos first coached together in 2014 when Ramos was the head coach of the United States men’s under-20 team. Together, they guided the squad to the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 championship.
Ramos brought Namazi to Houston in 2019 as one of his initial assistant coach hires.
Namazi has an extensive coaching history that includes stints with the Chicago Red Stars during the Women’s Professional Soccer era, the U.S. Women’s National Team and the Iran Men’s National Team that qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Ramos said he and Namazi see eye to eye on a lot of aspects of the game and that he fully trusts him to make sound decisions on Saturday.
“I know how he thinks and know what he wants from the team and how he wants to play,” Namazi said. “We look at things very similarly … I will be on the sideline instructing players, and I feel I have the flexibility, but I’ll still communicate with him what I’m thinking.
“At the end of the day, he’s the head coach and he makes the final decisions, but being on the sideline, if I need to make a quick decision I think I have his backing to make that decision.”
Namazi will have the benefit of Tyler Pasher returning from injury. Pasher has been the team’s biggest attacking spark this season but he has missed the last four games. Fellow attacker Corey Baird, on the other hand, is expected to miss Saturday’s game, Namazi said.
Ramos has said throughout the winless run that it shouldn’t matter which players are out. The Dynamo should be winning anyway.
That hasn’t happened in more than three months, but Namazi said it hasn’t dampened the players’ attitudes. They’re confident they can win on Saturday.
“It’s been a really good week,” he said. “The players have a good spirit to them. And even if you take into consideration what has been happening in the last couple of months, the lack of results, the players still believe. They’re bought in, and they look very, very prepared for this game.”