The New York Red Bulls have parted ways with head coach Chris Armas, the club announced Friday morning. Assistant coach CJ Brown has also departed the club and an interim head coach will be named in the coming days.
“On behalf of the organization, I’d like to thank Chris for his hard work and dedication to the club,” head of sport Kevin Thelwell said in a statement. “In this business, we have to make difficult decisions based on performances and, fundamentally, results. At this time, it’s my decision that we must go in a different direction in order to meet the ambitions we have for our football club. We wish Chris and CJ all the best in their future endeavors.”
“We will conduct a wide, thorough search for our next head coach,” Thelwell added.
Armas led RBNY to the Supporters’ Shield title in 2018, his first season as head coach, taking over after Jesse Marsch left that July upon becoming an assistant coach at Bundesliga side RB Leipzig.
Armas went 29W-21L-11T in league play, helping the Red Bulls reach the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs the last two seasons. They currently occupy a postseason slot, but are 1W-4L-1T in their last six matches, stretching back to an MLS is Back Tournament group-stage exit.
RBNY return to action Sunday when hosting the Philadelphia Union at Red Bull Arena (7 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, on DAZN in Canada). Their last mach, a 1-0 defeat against D.C. United, came after allowing a 98th-minute game-winning strike from Erik Sorga.
During his MLS playing days, Armas featured in 264 matches for the LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire FC. He also earned 66 caps for the US men's national team.
GET YOUR DAILY MLS FIX: Stay up on everything happening and sign Up for The Daily Kickoff to get all the big stories delivered to your inbox.
