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Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has confirmed two new names are set to join his backroom team.
The German was assisted by technical director Darren Fletcher and first-team coach Kieran McKenna during his first match in charge – Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
Both were present during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s managerial reign, but the coaching staff numbers were reduced when Michael Carrick announced he was leaving the club after last week’s 3-2 win over Arsenal.
With that in mind, Rangnick has moved to further bolster the ranks, by recruiting coach Chris Armas and sports psychologist Sascha Lense.
Armas is a former New York Red Bulls and Toronto FC manager, and enjoyed a long playing career in Major League Soccer and with the US national team.
Lense, meanwhile, worked alongside Rangnick at Schalke 04 and RB Leipzig.
“It won’t be that many [staff coming in],” explained Rangnick. “So far I’m very happy to work with the staff I have met last week, and they gave me a lot of help in the last couple of days in preparation for the Crystal Palace game.
“We have decided to bring in a sports psychologist, with Sascha Lense. He’s from Germany, he’s a former Second Division player.
“I worked with him for three years at Leipzig, in the year I won promotion from the second to the first division myself and the following two years when Ralph Hasenhuttl was head coach and Zsolt Low – the current assistant coach of Thomas Tuchel – was assistant coach.
“We have known each other since then and he will be introduced to the team as soon as he’s got his visa and work permit.”
“I will also have one other assistant coach, with Chris Armas,” he continued.
“Chris used to be the assistant coach at the New York Red Bulls under Jesse Marsch. That was five years ago, when I first met him.
“Since then we have met quite frequently. Also in my role as head of global for Red Bull in the last three-and-a-half years he was head coach for the New York Red Bulls and for Toronto in the MLS.”
