Former Manchester United assistant manager Chris Armas has insisted he had a good relationship with the Red Devils squad.
That is despite the American having reportedly been branded Ted Lasso after the bumbling fictional football manager by some in the team. Armas arrived at United in December as interim boss Ralf Rangnick's number two following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
But the duo quickly ran into problems in dealing with their new group of players, some of whom were resistant to their methods. Armas would ultimately depart United with Rangnick at the end of the season after they were only able to secure a sixth-place finish in the top flight.
Their exit came several months after ESPN reported that United players had likened Armas to Lasso. The fictional coach is played by Jason Sudekis in an Apple+ comedy show, which follows Lasso as he manages AFC Richmond.
Armas had never coached outside the United States before arriving at United, with his last job having been a 15-game stint at Toronto FC. But he has now insisted that his relationship with the Red Devils squad was a good one, despite the reports of his derisory nickname.
"It didn't affect anything you were seeing but when Erik ten Hag comes in with full support, going to be here for three years, all of a sudden he's bringing in one, two, three four players. You'll see by the time the season starts it might be eight new faces," he told The Crack Podcast.
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"Out with some guys, in with some freshness, hunger, a real specific style of play they can implement. It's night and day what interim manager Ralf Rangnick can do. Ralf came in and had ideas of what he wanted to do.
"But were they really going to push for Ralf to hit a home run, I don't know, they didn't add one player. So that's not me talking bad about the club, the club didn't add one single player in the transfer window when we're right in fourth position.
"Why not? I don't know. Imagine, it's a blessing and curse, for me, I'm only grateful, they treated me, I promise you all, tremendously. Upper management, coaching staff, Darren Fletcher, they treated me as if I'd been there forever and they were amazing.
"With the players, I had a really good rapport, top to bottom, young or older, or superstar. But the frustrating thing is you find yourself with this gift, like a pot of gold and I can't carry it, it's too heavy."
Rangnick took up the job of Austria's national manager after he departed United, but did not bring Armas with him. Instead, Rangnick appointed Lars Kornetka, Peter Perchtold and Onur Cinel to be his assistants.
Armas is currently without a job since his exit from Old Trafford, having so far failed to find a way back into the game. Whether he gets the chance to test his talents in Europe again following his disappointing spell at United remains to be seen.
