Alex Singer's troubled 23 months in Houston comes to an end

On Thursday morning, the Houston Dash parted ways with general manager Alex Singer. Change is only the constant in Texas.

The move itself does not come as a surprise, although the timing of Singer's departure was perhaps not expected. The NWSL transfer window will open on August 1st, with plenty of business expected in Houston.

Singer's firing comes with the Texas club 12th (out of 14) in the National Women's Soccer League table, 13th in goals scored, and 14th in xG. The team is also on a five-match winless run (six in all competitions) and has failed to score in all of those matches.

The Dash have also been dealing with plenty of disruption off the pitch.

Head coach Fran Alonso has been on leave for the past month, with his assistant Giba Damiano also departing the club for the past few months with little explanation. The staff and players have been pushing a boulder uphill.

In April 2024, Houston also had to endure their former marquee player, Maria Sanchez, publicly calling out the club and requesting a transfer.

Sources tell Squad Depth that Singer had lost the confidence of the playing staff in Houston. Following a midseason review, the club's president, Jess O'Neill, and owner, Ted Segal, felt the need to decide on the general manager's future before the end of the season. The search for a new Dash GM is underway.

Singer's time in Houston

Singer joined the Dash in August 2022, from sports and entertainment management firm Octagon. She became the first-ever GM in Houston's history and was tasked with making one of the NWSL's perennial strugglers flourish.

At the time of her arrival, Houston was at an uptick. In 2022, under interim head coach Juan Carlos Amoros, the Dash finished 4th in the NWSL table and qualified for the playoffs for the first time in club history. A club record of around 15,000 people watched a team that appeared to be in the ascendency.

It was a false dawn. Singer's inability to tie Amoros down to a long-term contract made her first year in the club difficult. The Spaniard would leave for NJ/NY Gotham during the offseason and go on to win the 2023 NWSL Championship. The lack of infrastructure at the club meant there was plenty of work to be done outside of the coaching position too.

In 2023, with playoff expectations, Singer opted to make Sam Laity her first head coaching appointment. It was the experienced NWSL assistant's first time being a head coach in the league. Despite making the team hard to beat, among some peerless performances from goalkeeper Jane Campbell, Houston stagnated around 10th position. Singer fired Laity in with four matches of the 2023 season left.

In 2024, the now-former general manager spoke about rebranding the Houston Dash "identity" and putting the focus on possession-based football. A big culture shift from a club that had been known for its tenacious pressing, and off-the-ball ethics. In came Alonso and technical director Pablo Pinoes-Arce to make her vision come to life.

This season, the Dash has gone backward. Starting the season unequipped to develop the new style on the pitch that Singer wanted. Without much patience or process, the style of play under Alonso has quickly reverted back to being pragmatic, hard to beat, and unadventurous.

Singer's pendulum swing from Laity to Alonso, preaching NWSL experience to looking outside elite leagues entirely, was rash. Too drastic for a squad lacking continuity and past results. Call it overly ambitious or naive, the Dash's inability to support a head coach or hire the right head coach ultimately doomed Singer.

Transfers, a team unbuilt

In terms of player acquisition and development, it's been a mixed bag. Singer's signings have not shown much joined-up thinking, with a heavy reliance on veterans from abroad. This has left the club unable to develop young unproven players into NWSL starters. With the exception of Avery Patterson, a 2024 draftee out of the University of North Carolina.

Overall in the NWSL Draft, Singer will be remembered for trading away both first-round picks in 2023 and 2024. By doing so she made a big swing at Diana Ordonez, a player who had scored a record 11 goals in her rookie season at the North Carolina Courage. Unfortunately in Houston, the 22-year-old forward has managed just seven goals in 36 regular season matches.

Lower down the draft, the pick-up of Sophie Hirst has shown promise. With the 2024 later rounds acquisitions of Patterson and Amanda West also showing value and talent. The free agent pickup of Barb Olivieri, who grew up in the Houston suburbs, is another signing where Singer deserves credit.

There has always been a very lopsided feel to the way Singer built her team. Plenty of central midfielders and forwards have been signed, while specialist defenders have been in short supply. There has been very little succession planning or budget spent on getting expert full backs or centrebacks, until the last transfer window in April 2024.

Not re-signing right back Caprice Dysdasco, Houston's best outfield player in 2023, will go down as a big missed opportunity. The centreback position has been a constant struggle in Katie Lind's absence, with the club shifting from a back four to a back three without getting players in who know the system.

Extending Michelle Alozie to a three-year deal during the 2022-23 offseason was a move that I think went under the radar at the time but showed Singer had faith in a player with immense potential. One of her better decisions as GM.

But on the other hand, players like central midfielder Marisa DiGrande, who excelled in 2022, and then stalled in 2023, were perhaps undervalued. The club has not been able to develop Hirst as a suitable replacement for DiGrande and/or has seemingly loaded up on veterans in the midfield.

Singer often looked for value when players are nearing the end of their contracts. The transfers out of star forward Ebony Salmon, for around $125,000, in September 2023, and club legend Nichelle Prince, in January 2024, were reflective of this strategy.

Both moves hurt the fanbase. And, the two transfers were met with tepid feelings but many will say that she at least got the club some capital in return. Neither Salmon nor Prince has managed to kick on at Aston Villa or the Kansas City Current respectively.

Prince's trade away from the club was in exchange for Cece Kizer. A highly regarded versatile forward who previously played for the Dash from 2019 to 2021.

Kizer didn't appear to connect with head coach Alonso or his tactics, and despite being one of the biggest names at the club, in their prime, she has been largely jettisoned to the bench before then injuries kept them her from the squad.

During the 2024 offseason, Singer traveled the world to learn from other clubs and attempted to make more hires to her staff and data analysis department to improve the infrastructure and succession planning in Houston. A new pitch was laid at the club's training centre, but the fruits of that labour otherwise remain unfulfilled.

Due to the Dash's history as a club that has failed to seize the moment, Singer put a lot of stock in signing veterans with a winning record. Over the past year, Yuki Nagasato, 37, Ramona Bachmann, 33, Andressa Alves, 32, Elin Rubensson, 30, and Sarah Puntigam, 31, all fitted this model or player acquisition.

The issue is not whether this group of players is talented. They undoubtedly all are. It is more so, what is the alchemy when they all come together?

What is the most vital positional need when it comes to recruitment? What are the relationships on the pitch? How do weaknesses and strengths balance each other out? How can they both add value and help nurture the players beneath them? What is the proposed style of play?

Stick a bunch of winners together doesn't mean that a team suddenly starts winning. One keeps coming back to the question: What was the plan?

The irony of the Sanchez disaster is that it led to Singer's best bit of business during her time in Houston. By trading the disgruntled Mexican international away for $500,000, the Dash acquired highly-rated Brazilian defender Tarciane.

The 21-year-old has shown flashes that she could be one of the best players in the Dash's history. And will also likely command a transfer fee double or (who knows) maybe even triple what Houston paid for her in a year or so.

Under immense pressure, Singer swung for the fences. But once again it came too late, and after a trail of chaos and miscommunication had been left in her wake.

Yes, Singer inherited chaos. Yes, Houston is one of the NWSL's most dysfunctional children. But did she douse the flames or fan them? It may take a few more years for us to truly know the answer.

For now, it's all change in Texas. Once again. That is the only thing these fans have come to know and expect.