Following a satisfying win over Crystal Palace that displayed a lot of improvements, more improvements were made to Manchester United’s backroom staff; Ralf Rangnick has brought in his first two names, Chris Armas and Sascha Lense.
Ralf Rangnick’s first set of hirings comes in the shape of Chris Armas, who will be acting as his assistant coach and Sascha Lense, who will be taking up the role as the sports psychologist.
"Ralf Rangnick has added coach Chris Armas and sports psychologist Sascha Lense to his backroom team."
The German, because of him joining during the busy festive period, had little time to implement his ways and modify his backroom staff — now that he has some breathing room, having already qualified for the Champions League Round of 16 — he can get the wheels in motion at Old Trafford.
Ralf Rangnick, employing people he has worked with before
The fresh faces coming into the Manchester club are well acquainted with United’s new boss, having previously worked together in their time as Red Bull employees. Chris Armas, involved at the top level in the USA with New York Red Bulls.
Sascha Lense, on the other hand, enjoyed a spell with Ralf Rangnick at the well-oiled system, RB Leipzig — the pair of Germans spent three years together.
"Armas was New York Red Bulls head coach from 2018 to 2020 and was manager of Toronto FC until he was sacked in July this year.Rangnick worked with Lense at RB Leipzig. (Via: eurosport.com)"
Manchester United manager Ralf Rangnick confirms Chris Armas to join the club as assistant coach and Sascha Lense as sports psychologist. 🔴 #MUFC pic.twitter.com/HWhKH9BLzq
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) December 7, 2021
This was expected at Manchester United
Many changes are anticipated to follow, with Rangnick needing people around him that understands his methodology. Also, his game demands a certain physicality and mental strength, hence the inclusion of a sports psychologist.
We’ve seen this with Manchester United’s rivals, Liverpool. When Jurgen Klopp took over back in 2015, they brought in Andreas Kornmayer, who is now the head of fitness and conditioning, and Mona Nemmer, who is the head of nutrition at the club — both of whom come from Klopp’s former rivals: Bayern Munich.
This is all to help reach the common goal, which is to achieve greatness by getting the optimal best out of each player in the squad. What you do off the pitch is reflected on the pitch.
The Red Devils go up against Group F’s last-placed side, Young Boys, on Wednesday evening and it is the perfect opportunity for the manager to experiment with his full squad.