Dash usher in new era under Hucles Mangano and Gautrat
(image via Houston Dash)
The Houston Dash officially ushered in a new era for the club with today’s introductory press conference of President of Women’s Soccer Angela Hucles Mangano and head coach Fabrice Gautrat. HDFC President of Business Operations Jessica O’Neill began the press conference welcoming the Dash’s new leadership team. O’Neill said the Dash have a robust plan and strategy to take the Dash to the next level. She also said Hucles Mangano was the clear choice to be hired as the new President of Women’s Soccer.
“I’m ecstatic to be here right now with you all,” Hucles Mangano said in her opening remarks. “I don't think there's any doubt what the responsibility is for both Fabrice (Gautrat) and myself being here today, and in part of that, it's to bring stability to this club so that we can be consistent in our long-term and short-term goals for this organization. We are bringing a vision to life. I've heard so much about the potential of this club, and I’ve seen the opportunity in a very short period of time and now it's time for some of that potential to be realized. I’m very excited to be here with you all today and to be joined by Fabrice as our next head coach.”
(image via Houston Dash)
The former USWNT midfielder and GM of Angel City FC spoke about the job she has in front of her, to build a winning team in Houston and transform the Dash into something they have not been since their inception. Interim GM Erik Ustruck made a number of moves before Hucles Mangano took over, mainly re-signing key players. Hucles Mangano knows the Dash roster needs to be flexible and something she’s keying on for the final few roster spots. “It's an evolving roster”, she said when asked about the roster going into this season. “We've already been very active this offseason, adding a few pieces to the roster and providing Fabrice (Gautrat) with a style of play that can be adaptable. When you look at some of the players that have been in this league and have really impacted teams, you look at (Barbra) Banda and (Temwa) Chawinga. The game itself is evolving, so to be able to have a roster that really matches that adaptability, allowing Fabrice to be flexible and having versatility within the roster has been something that we've really been homing in on for roster selections in some of these final pieces.”
(image via Houston Dash)
Gautrat, who replaces Fran Alonso and interim Ricky Clarke, says he was drawn to this project by three things. “The leadership, the staff and the players.” Gautrat spoke glowingly of the front office and the support at the club for him to build this club into a winner. “As Jessica (O’Neill) mentioned earlier, I think we have a very high-potential group,” Gautrat told reporters. “I'm very excited to be a part of this group. One thing that was laid out from the get-go, and as I got to know Angela (Hucles Mangano), is how important trust is and how important trust is to keep building day in and day out. Those are a few things that really drew me to this project, and I'm excited to get started.”
Gautrat spoke about his style of play being “comprehensive.” He wants his players to break lines and press but also wants them to prevent that from happening against them. He spoke about how data and details will influence the players on his roster and the decisions he will make. “One thing that has impressed me since coming on board is how much data is used to influence the decisions we make within our roster, and you've seen already some of those players come in,” Gautrat said about the current roster of players he has. “It's more than just what looks good. There is a lot of detail and data behind that and that's important, especially in this day and age. The other thing is that if you look at the track record of this league, what you find is sometimes teams could be first and last within a year. Sometimes those margins are very small, and sometimes all you need is a couple of different players, maybe a different training environment, to just change things. I'm very excited with the decisions that have been made and with the current roster we have.”
The new head coach also spoke about getting his striker, Diana Ordonez, back into the form she had in her rookie season when she scored double digit goals for the North Carolina Courage. Gautrat said Ordonez excels at making runs and getting open so it will be imperative for them to get balls into the box and be dangerous. He also spoke highly of Avery Patterson, a player who he has coached before, and how her dribbling ability and ability to put defenses under pressure could see her used higher up the field, on the left or the right.
There have been a number of lows for the Houston Dash over the last few years but today’s conference brought some new hope. Is it the same thing all over again, the same things we heard a year ago when Alonso was introduced? Only time will tell, but both Gautrat and Hucles Mangano know they owe it to the fans to get this right. The fans deserve more. Angela (Hucles Mangano) touched upon some of the goals that we have this year, and obviously, making the playoffs is one of them. For me, one thing I want us to create is something that goes beyond just that. When you see the Dash, you see that there's something unique about how they play. There's a culture, there's trust and there's resilience that really shines through the team. For me, that’s what we’re after and that's what we want to create. That's what you can expect from us as a team.”
Hucles Mangano echoed Gautrat’s comments and knows how important it is to not only engage with fans, but earn their trust. “We want to engage more with our fans… I believe there are two types of people: those who give trust until trust is no longer given, and those who need to build into that trust. Ultimately, we want to give people reasons to trust the type of success we're hoping to build within this organization.”
Dash fans and fans of soccer in Houston hope this will be the last introductory press conference for a while. There is hope again, that this is the turning point, this is when the Dash do begin to build something for Houston and for the fans. Now the attention turns to seeing it get done.
