Tab Ramos and Memo Rodriguez hit it off from the very beginning. It was last October when Ramos had just been hired as the Houston Dynamo's manager, and with the team's season having just concluded, Rodriguez was in the process of getting in a set of postseason workouts. Rodriguez swung by his new boss' office and they got to talking about where the El Campo, Texas, native best fit into Ramos' system.
Rodriguez had grown up as a central midfielder, but he'd spent the bulk of his professional career on the wing. Ramos, a fan of Rodriguez's technical ability, physicality and endurance, thought a return to a more central role as a two-way midfielder suited the 24-year-old best.