Chelsea's Ramsay appointed as Man Utd's first set piece coach
Ramsay was first-team coach at Shrewsbury before joining Chelsea in August 2019
Written by Training Ground Guru — July 12, 2021
CHELSEA Under-23s assistant Eric Ramsay has been appointed as Manchester United’s first set piece specialist and individual development coach.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer identified set pieces - defensive ones in particular - as an area that the team needed to improve last season.
Ramsay, 29, joined Chelsea from Shrewsbury - where he had been first-team coach - in August 2019. He is regarded as one of the most promising young British coaches and became the youngest to gain the Uefa Pro Licence in September 2019, at the age of 27.
Solskjaer said: “We've been fortunate enough to convince Eric Ramsay to come and join the best club in the world and in the country.
“He’s a very highly rated coach who is going to be working with individuals and in charge of set-plays as well.
“We’re excited. He’s young, fresh and with new ideas, an innovative coach we know from before. Kieran [McKenna] knows him really well from Loughborough, so we’re very pleased with that.”
The Welshman Ramsay joined the Shrews in January 2017 as Head of Academy Coaching and was promoted to Academy Manager in August 2017 and first-team coach in December 2018.
Ramsay studied sport science at Loughborough University alongside United first-team coach Kieran McKenna from 2010 to 2013 and is currently undertaking a PhD there on elite youth development.
Assistant Martyn Pert and goalkeeper coach Richard Hartis had specific responsibility for United’s set pieces last season but that will now switch to Ramsay. Tom Green is the club’s dedicated set piece analyst and will continue in the role.
Manchester City’s set piece specialist coach Nicolas Jover joined Arsenal last week and they have no immediate plans to hire a replacement.
Individual development coach is becoming a more and more common role in senior and Academy football. TGG held an Individual Development Coaching Webinar last month, which is now available on-demand.
Nicky Butt was United's Head of Development before leaving in March 2021, but his role was more focused on the transition of players from Academy to first team, whereas Ramsay will work with all the senior players on their individual development needs.
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