When Angel City Football Club announced the hiring of Alex Straus, it was believed the team had finally found the right coach to lead the team.
On Wednesday, the team is back in search of a new coach after announcing it has parted ways with Straus. The former Bayern Munich manager was Angel City’s third permanent coach, taking over from Sam Laity, who led the team through the first half of the 2025 season as the interim coach.
Angel City went into the current summer break 4-6-1 after the team won its first three games of the season.
“Alex brought real energy and passion to Angel City, developing our style of play and overseeing the important development of our players,” Sporting Director Mark Parsons said in a statement. “He guided one of the youngest rosters in NWSL history through a pivotal period of growth. We are deeply grateful for Alex’s leadership and the progress made during his tenure, and we wish him nothing but success in his next chapter.”
The club announced that Senior Assistant Coach Leif Gunnar Smerud will act as interim head coach while “Angel City conducts a comprehensive search.”
Straus’ firing comes hours after the team announced it was trading 19-year-old midfielder Kennedy Fuller to Bay FC in exchange for $520,000 in total funds.
Straus moved to Angel City after leading Bayern Munich to consecutive Frauen-Bundesliga titles. His debut as Angel City coach was June 7, 2025. His final game was May 31.
Last season, the club struggled when Straus finally arrived, but he was optimistic of having a full offseason and preseason training camp to get things turned around. It looked promising early as the club jumped out of the gates winning its first three games. Since then, the team has been on the wrong side of results, in a league where the margins between winning and losing are extremely thin.
At the time of Straus’ hiring, Parsons called it a “significant moment” for the team. Parsons was hired in January 2025 into his Sporting Director role.
“This is huge,” Parsons said of the Straus hiring. “It’s a significant moment for us, showing that we are serious and elite in moving everything forward from off the field to on the field and now we believe we have a key piece in Alex joining us at such a crucial time in our club history.”
The move came after the team hired Becky Tweed, but removed her after the 2024 season. Angel City went into the 2025 season with Laity in an interim role. Laity led the team to a 4-4-2 record before Straus took over.