Peter Schwartz's Futbol Friday: Red Bulls Assistant Coach Armas Reflects, Looks Ahead

By Peter Schwartz
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It wasn't easy for Chris Armas to sit in front of his television Wednesday night and watch Toronto beat Montreal to advance to the MLS Cup. In fact, it was extremely tough for the Red Bulls assistant coach because in a perfect world he would have been on the sideline at Red Bull Arena coaching in the Eastern Conference finals.

"I'm not a sore loser, but I'm a bad loser," Armas told WFAN.com. "I hate losing, and it's been painful. I could hardly finish watching (Wednesday) night, but of course I did. Watching teams playing past the time that we did and watching teams get to be in that moment and celebrating … it's been difficult, to be honest."

It's a second straight tough pill to swallow for Armas and the entire Red Bulls organization. Last year, the Red Bulls won the Supporters' Shield, but lost to the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference finals. This year, the Red Bulls repeated as Eastern Conference regular season champs, but were ousted by the Montreal Impact in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

While both losses still sting, the silver lining is that the Red Bulls have established themselves as an elite team in Major League Soccer over the last two seasons. This year, they overcame a 1-6 start and closed the regular season by going unbeaten in 13 games. They fell short of their ultimate goal, but there was plenty to build on for next season.

"When the dust settles, we find some comfort in looking back on the season and then maybe the two years as a whole," Armas said. "If you just judge success by winning MLS Cup, you'll feel like a failure more years than not. Just seeing how our guys stuck together was incredible, so for me there's so many positives."

Those positives start at the top with the new regime that took over following the 2014 season. Ali Curtis was brought in as sporting director and promptly made one of the most controversial decisions in MetroStars/Red Bulls history when he fired fan favorite head coach Mike Petke and replaced him with Jesse Marsch.

Many of the Red Bulls' supporters were not happy with the move, but there's no denying the success throughout the organization the last two years.

"I think it's clear to see that there's a real foundation in place," said Armas, now in his second season as Red Bulls assistant coach. "It's a clear playing style. Everyone's in on it, and we think it's going to be everlasting. You can see our academy progressing and our USL team thriving."

Coming off of back-to-back first-place finishes in the Eastern Conference, as well as the Red Bulls II club winning the USL championship, there is reason to be optimistic about the first team's chances of hoisting the MLS Cup in the not-so-distant future. With a core led by MLS Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips, captain Dax McCarty and goalkeeper Luis Robles, the Red Bulls are not about to rebuild but just tinker with an already quality roster.

"We do feel good about what's been built and what's in place," Armas said. "We see much success in the way we play and the quality of players that we have. But we are realistic. We've fallen short a couple of times, so I think we're going to come back hungry to bolster the squad."

The state of the Red Bulls wasn't the only subject that I covered with Armas, an MLS Best XI player five times and a member of the 1998 Chicago Fire MLS championship team. The six-time MLS All-Star was also a member of the U.S. national team and was on the roster for 2002 World Cup, but was unable to play because of injury.

The head coach of that 2002 team that went to the quarterfinals was Bruce Arena, who is now back in charge of the national squad after Jurgen Klinsmann was let go. Having played for Arena, Armas thinks it's a good move for the United States as it tries to earn a spot in the 2018 World Cup.

"(Arena) knows the American player, CONCACAF, what winning looks like and about getting to World Cups," Armas said. "He's a great leader and motivator. He's probably one of the best managers that I've been around. I think he's a great person for the job. I expect nothing but success and winning."

Armas was a star player for St. Anthony's High School on Long Island before playing college soccer at Adelphi University. After graduating from Adelphi, Armas turned pro in 1994 and played two seasons with the Long Island Rough Riders and won a USISL Pro League championship with them in 1995.

A teammate of his on that club was Giovanni Savarese, who is now the head coach of the New York Cosmos. Savarese has guided the Cosmos to back-to-back NASL titles and three championships in the last four years, but the future of the league and the team is very much in doubt.  From a distance, Armas is hoping that the Cosmos can stay afloat.

"We always want the best for our friends and colleagues," Armas said. "I've been to some Cosmos games. I wouldn't want to see that slip away. I wish the Cosmos the best, but obviously I've heard some rumblings."

But the main concern for Armas is to do his part in helping the Red Bulls reach their objective of winning the MLS Cup. That will have to wait at least until next season, as Toronto FC will host Seattle in this year's match on Dec. 10.

Once again, it will be tough for Armas to watch on television, but it will certainly fuel the fire for 2017.

You can follow me on Twitter @pschwartzcbsfan.