BY KEITH NAMM
Of The Post and Courier Staff
It's been about a week since new coach Chris Ramsey conducted his first Battery practice, and the former England U-20 national soccer team manager has liked just about all he has seen.
He is charged with melding a talent-laden roster that includes 2001 A-League MVP Paul Conway and all-time U.S. scoring leader Eric Wynalda into a championship side.
Friday afternoon, Ramsey and assistant coach Mike Anhaeuser spent most of a 1-hour practice working on set pieces. It is just one segment of Ramsey's folder full of pre-season points of emphasis.
"The players are working really hard. I couldn't ask for it to be better at the moment," said Ramsey, adding, "Mike Anhaeuser's support has been unbelievable to help me settle in and figure out the direction we're going to go."
Today, the Lowcountry can get a free early look at the Battery when it visits the College of Charleston for a 7:30 p.m. exhibition match at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.
After that, only a Wednesday evening scrimmage against Coastal Carolina in Conway is left before next Saturday's 7:30 p.m. exhibition against Major League Soccer's Dallas Burn at Blackbaud Stadium on Daniel Island.
"We've got these first two games to get the lads back into playing mode," Ramsey said. "They're not going to have everything down pat straightaway. We want to get the players used to the way me and Mike want them to play.
"Once the league season starts (April 27 at home vs. Pittsburgh), we'll make sure the players are singing off the same sheet."
Ramsey, a former pro player in England, wore a No. 19 Battery jersey and fed passes to the forwards during one of Friday's drills at Blackbaud, which had keepers Dusty Hudock and Todd Hoffard alternate being peppered with shots.
"I'm basically getting to know the players and trying to get them to reach the potential most of them seem to have," Ramsey said. "We're incorporating a bit of fun with the discipline.
"All of them have come back in reasonably good shape."
He said the newcomers have come in and jelled with those who returned from last year's conference runners-up. No new face has come in with the fanfare of Wynalda, but Ramsey said once the players are in his camp, he tries to treat them all the same.
"If we can keep that up, we should have a good squad and a good bond," Ramsey said.
Ramsey said one of his biggest objectives is to get some of the players to tap more creatively into their talent. "We want them to try to express themselves a little bit more. Some have good ability but don't show it as much as they can."
The team will be put to its other high-level test of the eight-match preseason at 7:30 p.m. April 13, when MLS' New England Revolution pays a visit to Blackbaud.
"We learn from the MLS teams," Ramsey said, "and we want to make sure the players realize the standard they need to achieve."
