Former Man Utd coach branded 'Ted Lasso' by players joins bitter Premier League rivals

Former Manchester United coach Chris Armas has joined the club’s bitter rivals Leeds United as assistant head coach.

The 50-year-old links up with Leeds boss Jesse Marsch and is expected to be in the dugout for Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup round four tie at Accrington Stanley.

Last season Armas spent time at United, working as Ralf Ragnick’s assistant during the interim manager’s ill-fated spell at Old Trafford.

On the appointment, Leeds boss Marsch said: “I’m delighted to welcome Chris to Leeds United.

“He will be a fantastic addition to the staff, he brings a wealth of experience from across the world and having worked closely with him previously, I am sure he will help us to improve every day.”

Armas compared to Ted Lasso

Last February, while Ragnick was still United boss, ESPN claimed that the club’s players were becoming frustrated by their "old-fashioned” training methods.

Meanwhile, the publication added that there had been bemusement that Rangnick had left the bulk of the coaching sessions to Armas.

In turn, some players on the training ground had allegedly jokingly likened Armas to fictional coach Ted Lasso - a hapless American parachuted in to manage a fictional side AFC Richmond.

At the time Armas had never coached outside of North America while his last management job ended in his dismissal at Toronto FC after he claimed just two wins in his 15 games in charge.

The former USA international has since insisted that his relationship with the Red Devils squad was a good one, despite the reports of his derisory nickname.

Speaking to the Crack podcast, Arnas said: “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."