Full Reboot: Pablo Pinones-Arce set to depart already thin Houston Dash

In the week that followed the end of Houston Dash's woeful 2024 season, the Texas club has decided to move on from technical director Pablo Piñones-Arce in the offseason, Squad Depth understands.

Houston is yet to make a formal announcement as it wraps up its 2024 exit interviews.

“The team is currently meeting with the technical staff as part of the annual end of year review. The team will share an update once all meetings have taken place," said a Dash spokesperson.

The Swede was officially hired in January 2024 as the first-ever technical director in Dash history. The club lauded the position as one expected to establish "a robust soccer operation framework."

Piñones-Arce's responsibilities included talent identification, roster construction, overseeing various aspects of soccer operations, and contributing to the development of a comprehensive youth strategy.  

How much of that has been accomplished during his short tenure remains unclear.

How did we get here

Looking back, there was lots to like about the hiring of Piñones-Arce.

Here was a title-winning manager from a very competitive league in the Swedish Damallsvenskan. Not only was his Hammarby team successful on the pitch, but he also helped scout and develop young players like Kyra Cooney-Cross and Maika Hamano.

Piñones-Arce was a former player, a soccer academic, and spoke seven languages. He had a UEFA Pro License, collaborated with many industry experts, and even published a well-regarded research paper on soccer analytics.

In some ways, the issue was that Piñones-Arce may have been a better head coaching pick than Fran Alonso. After coaching 14 matches, the Spaniard took a leave of absence in June 2024 before parting ways with the club in October.

Former general manager Alex Singer, who was fired in July 2024, was the person who brought in Piñones-Arce to improve the club's soccer infrastructure. With Singer removed, the club's hierarchy of president Jess O'Neill and owner Ted Segal have decided to go for a full reboot.

After Singer was fired, O'Neill told Squad Depth that there would be a "collective approach" for soccer operations in the wake of the general manager departing.

"Pablo [Piñones-Arce] has significantly more football experience than I do, so we'll work closely on that, including with [acting head coach] Ricky [Clarke]. He will be working closely with us, to sort of fill the gap [left by Singer]," said O'Neill.

Who is making decisions?

Rather than lean on Piñones-Arce more, Houston decided to contract former Houston Dynamo player and Orlando Pride general manager Erick Ustruck as a consultant to oversee roster construction.

Ustruck has been the person negotiating the renewals of Paige Nielsen, Natalie Jacobs, Michelle Alozie, Barbara Olivieri, Sarah Puntigam, and Sophie Schmidt over the past few months.

READ MORE: 'It was my top choice': Paige Nielsen on her four-year extension with the Houston Dash [Exclusive]

At the Dash, there is currently no general manager, sporting director, technical director, or head coach, and soon a slew of assistant coaches and technical staff will be out of contract at the end of the year.

There's rebooting, and there is rebooting as hard as the Dash.

A difficult 2025

The problem for Dash fans, O'Neill and Segal, is the offseason has already begun. This club is quickly falling behind when it comes to being adequately prepared for 2025.

When it came to hiring a new GM, O'Neill told Squad Depth in July: "I would like to have somebody in place by October." Whatever candidates interviewed have clearly been taken off the board for now. Nearly three months later, Houston is at a standstill for progress.

Even prior to all these dismissals, the Dash was already falling behind in terms of staffing and support. In September, Chloe Dhillon arrived as a video analyst to bolster the technical staff, and work under Michael Poma. The video analyst position had been originally been made vacant and then put on hold a year ago during the 2023-24 offseason.

Houston is still heading into the 2024-25 offseason with no strategy, no plan, and no leaders on the football operations side.

To make matters even more volatile, this is an offseason without an NWSL draft. When NWSL clubs cannot rely on being handed talent from the NCAA.

All that being said, some plaudits need to go to the likes of interim head coach Ricky Clarke, team captain Jane Campbell, and all the players.

They cannot be faulted for their effort, commitment, and integrity to pull the club through an immensely challenging year. It's certainly not easy to get on with doing your job to the best of your ability when all you can see is chaos and no structure above you.

We know big hires are needed in Houston. Will they arrive in time to right the ship of the last-placed club in the NWSL for the upcoming season?