By MATT PIKE
The Kansas City Current have named their new man in charge as Vlatko Andonovski transitions from being the teams head coach to the role of sporting director.
In a big announcement, the Current are hiring Chris Armas, a National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and decorated Major League Soccer player, as the newest head coach of the women’s soccer club. Armas was most recently the head coach of the Colorado Rapids.
Armas began his coaching career in 2008 in Chicago, as an assistant with the Fire, before spending four years as the head women’s soccer coach at Adelphi University, his alma mater, from 2011 to 2014. He returned to the MLS in 2015 as an assistant with the New York Red Bulls, holding that role until 2018, when he moved into the head coaching job, until 2020.
In 2019, under Armas, the Red Bulls finished sixth in the Eastern Conference and were eliminated by the Philadelphia Union in the first round of the playoffs. The Red Bulls were then eliminated in the group stage of the MLS is Back Tournament after they were defeated by FC Cincinnati. Armas parted ways with the club on September 4, 2020, one day after a 1–0 loss to D.C. United.
In 2021, Armas was hired as the head coach of Toronto FC, but was fired midway through the season following the largest loss in the club's history and a league record of one win, eight losses and two draws. He went on to serve as an assistant overseas with Manchester United the the remainder of the year and into 2022, and then with Leeds United in 2023. He was also named the Co-interim coach of Leed United that year, helping oversee a 2–2 draw at Old Trafford with Manchester United.
Armas has since been with the Rapids back in the MLS during the 2024 and 2025 seasons. As the man in charge in Colorado, Armas helped lead the Rapids to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs in 2024, and earned the team a third-place finish in the 2025 Leagues Cup, as well as back-to-back Rocky Mountain Cup titles.
Armas also has success as a player, regarded as one of the best midfielders in Major League Soccer according to the Current. Armas is one of only five players in MLS history to have been named to the MLS Best XI five times and be a six-time MLS All-Star. Additionally, in 2003, Armas was named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year after recovering from an injury that ended his season in 2002. In that same year, he was named Chicago Fire FC’s MVP.
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