Toronto FC fires LI's Chris Armas amid 1-8-2 start
Toronto FC head coach Chris Armas, right, argues with an official during the second half of an MLS match against FC Cincinnati on June 26 in Orlando, Fla. Credit: AP/Phelan M. Ebenhack
TORONTO — Toronto FC fired head coach and Brentwood native Chris Armas on Sunday in the wake of a 7-1 loss at D.C. United, the club’s sixth straight defeat.
Under the first-year coach, Toronto (1-8-2) is winless in seven and languishing in last place in the 27-team league.
Toronto is mired in its second-worst start to a season. Only 2012, when the team lost its first nine games and didn’t reach the five-point mark until its 13th outing (1-10-2), was worse.
Toronto has had several problems this season, with the team often digging itself a deficit in games.
TFC allowed goals in the second and eighth minutes against D.C. United on Saturday, bringing the number given up in the first 15 minutes of a game to a league-worst eight. And the team is also 0-7-1 when conceding the first goal.
Toronto ranked last in the league, conceding 2.45 goals a game, in the wake of the loss to D.C. United.
The team has had to relocate to the U.S. for a second-straight season because of pandemic-related travel restrictions.
Armas, 48, was hired as Toronto FC’s 10th head coach on Jan. 13.
A former elite defensive midfielder, Armas played 12 years in MLS — two with the Galaxy and 10 with the Chicago Fire. In 1998, he helped the expansion Fire win both the MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup. He went on to the 2003 Supporters’ Shield and three more Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups with Chicago (2000, 2003, 2006).
