Ralf Rangnick says Chris Armas has already been 'very helpful' as his assistant at Manchester United.
The American coach was brought to Old Trafford by the interim manager last month as part of his backroom staff following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Although they had never worked together, Rangnick knew of Armas from their previous roles as part of the Red Bull group, with the former having worked as both an assistant and head coach of the New York Red Bulls.
Eyebrows were raised at the appointment of Armas for such a senior role, with one MLS-based source even informing the Manchester Evening News that they thought 'someone was playing a joke on them' when made aware of the impending switch to United, describing it as a 'strange decision to hire someone who has done so poorly' in the United States.
However, Rangnick has now lifted the lid on his unexpected appointment and vouched for the good work being done by his assistant.
“Very helpful," Rangnick told club media when asked to rate Armas' impact. "We haven’t worked together before that, the same is true with Ewan Sharp but with Chris Armas, we knew each other from our mutual time with Red Bull when he was head coach and assistant coach with New York Red Bulls.
"He’s very helpful, not only very loyal but also very helpful and it’s very helpful he’s a native speaker. He knows how to communicate with players and he also had a high level of respect now from the players, they know that he’s a good guy and also a good expert in different areas. I’m very happy to have him on board.”
