There have been some tough periods in Manchester United’s recent history, perhaps none more so than when Cristiano Ronaldo let rip in an interview with Piers Morgan, and former assistant to Ralf Rangnick, Chris Armas, opened up on his welcome from the Portuguese and life at the club in general.
It quickly became clear after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking, that Rangnick was the wrong man in the wrong club at the wrong time.
Lauded by the likes of Jurgen Klopp for the work he had done in Germany – with The Guardian (subscription required) reporting before Rangnick’s arrival that the Liverpool manager said it was ‘not good news for other teams’ – Rangnick often looked like a frightened rabbit in the headlights at Old Trafford and couldn’t get an expensively assembled bunch of players dancing to his tune.
Bringing American, Chris Armas, along with him also proved to be a disappointing, rather than an inspired decision too.
Stories coming out in the press at the time have also now been exposed as ‘lies’ by Armas.
“When I initially got there, it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, the American is here.’ It didn’t feel like that,” he said to The Athletic.
“You talk to players and Cristiano (Ronaldo) is like, ‘Oh, you’re from the Bronx.’ They read a little bit about you, they know a few things here and there.
“But I would say at some point, when things were getting tougher for the club in terms of results, yeah, I think I was an easy target.
“Things came out publicly, the training sessions, what have you, that frankly were just not true. So journalists, or whoever is putting that out there, just flat-out lying. Just lies.
“So that part, is it because I’m American? I’m not sure. But I think I became an easy target at a certain point in the season when things weren’t going well.”
Ever since Erik ten Hag took over at the club and dispensed with Ronaldo as one of his first major decisions in charge, United have been on an upward trajectory.
The club and its supporters will continue looking forward rather than back, as no one at the club needs reminding of that particular period.