Christian Ramirez’s 20-goal tally in 2014 served as the forward’s breakout performance, but in his head, Ramirez still sees himself as the kid out to prove the world wrong.

After sputtering through the Spring campaign with just one goal, Ramirez’s 2014 was all but deemed a fluke. A player without an ideal pedigree, Ramirez looked like he may have become a one-year wonder at just 24 years old.

Ramirez, who signed a new three-year deal with Minnesota United in February, heard the criticism, and he turned it into a Fall run as impressive as any in NASL. Stating that the Spring Season was the first real adversity of his career, Ramirez notched 11 finishes in the second half of the season and finished second in the league in scoring.

“That’s always been my goal: to never be complacent and thinking that I’ve gotten as good as I can get while always knowing that there’s room for more,” Ramirez told SBI. “Last year, having the semifinal exit has been a motivating factor this year. This year, not being up for say the Golden Ball, you can write that down as a motivating factor now. It’s a feeling that I should have been on that list and I saw some of the list and maybe that adds to it.

“I’ve got more people to prove wrong and that’s always been a motto throughout my career: to let my game speak for itself and not worry about what others are really saying because I’ve always been critiqued in my playing career. Since I was little, I wasn’t fast enough, strong enough or athletic enough, so it’s always been my motto to just keep to my game and let it do its talking.”

Ramirez’s game emitted little more than a whisper in the spring.

After emerging as 2014’s breakout star, Ramirez struggled mightily to start the season as teams keyed in on his abilities. Having worked his way up from college and the PDL to the USL and then all the way to Minnesota United, Ramirez was never heralded as the focal point, but he was now being pinpointed as just that.

Teams game-planned to keep Ramirez off the scoresheet and, by and large, it worked. The struggles forced Ramirez to do a bit of homework, as he learned how to read and adapt to defenses that were specifically designed to stop him from playing his game.

“He’s still a young player in the professional ranks and he had a great year last year,” said Minnesota United head coach Manny Lagos. “The challenges of replicating that are unrealistic because every year is different with new challenges. I don’t think Christian should be judged on just whether he scores goals or not, but what he brings to the game and the team every day in training, in the locker room and as a person.

“I think it’s important that you balance that type of fervor and that type of intensity,” Lagos added, “but also with the expectations that you’re going to have some dips. It’s important to navigate how you react to those dips so you can become better. It’s how you can learn from them, so ultimately, part of Christian’s year being a great year is that there have been certain frustrations that he might have individually, which is normal, but he also has to think about the bigger picture and the concept and the focus of the team and how the team gets better.”

In total, Ramirez’s finishes played a major part in leading Minnesota United to a third-place finish in the Combined Standings. Along the way, the 24-year-old forward says he became a bit more of a leader, although he is the first to admit he’s far from the most vocal guy on the team.

Part of that leadership was learning to accept help, especially from a team as veteran-heavy as Minnesota United. Playing with weapons around him, Ramirez doesn’t have to score every game to lead Minnesota United to glory, and part of his evolution was embracing that there is more than one way to help a team.

Ramirez is now set to be a major part of Minnesota United’s postseason run, which kickstarts Sunday in Ottawa with a matchup against Fury FC. For one, Ramirez says he is more healthy this year than last, which saw a postseason where Ramirez could only watch as his team settled for a semifinal exit in penalty kicks.

“I think we’re built for the playoffs,” Ramirez said. “I think we’ve talked about it all year — believing in the journey and the process of this whole season. It’s believing that we have the guys for the long-term and not just for just the Spring Season. We felt that we were built for the entirety of the season.

“Now, a one game playoff is essentially what we’re in, and that’s our focus and our goal. We have so many weapons on the team that if a team starts to close down one, another is able to take the game over and I think that one through 23 on our roster can provide a goal or service at a given moment.”

Entering a do-or-die situation against a favored Ottawa team, Ramirez and Minnesota United know that they’re in for a challenge. But, for a player that has worked so hard to reach the upper echelon of the NASL, another challenge is exactly what Ramirez wants to face head on.

“I just come to not expect to be given anything. I’ve never been the type to have stuff handed to me,” Ramirez said. “I’ve always had to work for it, and I’ll continue to even if things do come my way and people start handing me things. I don’t accept it.

“I always want to work for what I get. That’s always been my mentality: to work as if nothing will be given to you in the end. I don’t expect rewards, I just work and let my game talk for me.”