TORONTO, ON. – Chris Armas will be the next head coach of Toronto FC. He was the manager for the New York Red Bulls in 2018-20. This included winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2018. He will bring valuable experience as a player as Greg Vanney did for TFC. He was dismissed last September however, because of the poor start he had with the Red Bulls.
Chris Armas: Learn about the new head coach of Toronto FC
Sources: Chris Armas is the new head coach of Toronto FC. #tfclive
— Kristian Jack (@KristianJack) January 13, 2021
His playing career and managerial career
Playing career
Chris Armas had a 13-year playing career. He played for the Long Island Rough Riders from 1994-95. Armas then played in the inaugural MLS season with the LA Galaxy. He was there from 1996-97, played 50 games and scored four goals. Chris Armas would then spend the rest of his playing career with the Chicago Fire from 1998-07. In that timeframe, he played 214 games and scored eight goals.
He won many awards while with the Fire including one MLS Cup, one MLS Supporters Shield, and four Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups. Individually, he won the Chicago Fire Most Valuable Player award in 2003 and made the MLS Best XI five times and made six MLS All-Star appearances.
He also played for Puerto Rico in 1993 and the USA national men’s team from 1998-05. With the U.S. he won two Gold Cups and was named the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2000.
Managerial career
His managerial career started in 2008 as an assistant to Chicago in MLS. He was also an assistant from 2015-18 for the Red Bulls. He was promoted to head coach after Jesse Marsch left the club to become the assistant of RB Leipzig.
Armas would also win the Supporters’ Shield as a head coach in 2018. However, his team would lose in the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals to eventual MLS champions, Atlanta United FC. His team would also make the MLS Cup playoffs in 2019 but end up losing in the first round to the Philadelphia Union.
In September, Armas was fired as head coach, as the Red Bulls had a poor start. This included failing to make the knockout stage of the MLS is Back Tournament last year. Making him available for TFC to hire as head coach. It is also important to note that he was also the head coach of Adelphi University women’s soccer team from 2011-14.
Overview of hiring Chris Armas as head coach and what is next for him
The hiring of Chris Armas as head coach overview
Chris Armas seems like a good hire. As he has experience in MLS both as a player and as a head coach. Armas has seen MLS develop since its inception in 1996. Critics might say that he has some, but not much head coaching experience as some others in MLS. However, the same can be said of Vanney (who had no head coaching experience) when he took the TFC head coaching job in 2014.
What is next for Toronto FC
The most immediate job to do is prepare for the 2021 MLS SuperDraft on January 21st. Toronto currently has four MLS SuperDraft picks; however, this could change as trades happen during the draft. The other job that is important is finding a third designated player.
They have declined Pablo Piatti’s contract as the third designated player in November. Lastly, after the SuperDraft is done, TFC should prepare for the 2020 Canadian Championship Final against Forge FC (from Hamilton). A date for the final has not been determined.
However, the winner of the Canadian Championship Final will be in the 2021 Concacaf Champions League, which will take place next month. This was confirmed after Hamilton failed to qualify for the Concacaf Champions League via the Concacaf League competition. A date for the 2020 Canadian Championship Final should be confirmed fairly soon.
Canada Soccer has confirmed that the 2020 Canadian Championship Final will be played in the first quarter of the 2021 year due to current pandemic restrictions, with a date and location to be determined in conjunction with club and league schedules.https://t.co/McuJ6h3H5x
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) November 25, 2020
