Elche 2023/24 is experiencing a roller coaster of emotions and consequences. Things that seemed to have improved after a poor start to the league went wrong again as Christmas approached, so much so that at the beginning of December the seeming enthusiasm from fans that they would be facing these important dates seemed to have gone awry. doubts involving a team that has not yet established itself in the category.
Despite a disastrous 2022/23 season, relegation turned the Franjiverdes into the “roosters” of the category; it was a sign they hadn’t had in many years.. Even in 2012/13, when the “Elche of records” had an almost perfect season, the guys from Elche did not start as one of the three biggest favorites for promotion due to their status as a recently relegated team.
However, as the months passed, men took the lead. Sebastian Beccacece They were faced with a brutal reality. Following the Argentinian coach’s self-imposed ultimatum, despite an impeccable middle distance in the first round, at no point did they manage to rub shoulders with the best in the division and the Franjiverdes managed to achieve a very positive winning streak: 20 points out of 27 possible.
Doubts in the environment
Defeats against Cartagena and Oviedo and a draw against Mirandés bring back the doubts of the start of the season. Beccacece appears to continue to make this clear and the imminence of the reopening of the winter market will help his squad address their shortcomings, but Elche will once again face must-win games no matter what as soon as league competition resumes. .
These doubts stem from the disorganization and lack of power in both areas, rather than the play and potential that the Elcheans are able to show. Like this, He missed advantageous situations against Elche, Oviedo and Cartagena and did not know how to maintain his advantage against Mirandés. A “deja vu” from the early days.
Their lack of teeth numerically can be seen in the fact that Beccacece’s side are the third most successful team in the Second League (297 shots), scoring more goals (21) than their six opponents.
Injuries, burden
Another of the big problems that tormented Elche in the first months of the course are injuries.. In the summer there was already the case of John, who recently returned to the playing field after a break of several months. And in the last match of 2023, many things happened, until the most serious and painful: Óscar Plano left a shocking sight of pain, and the ankle fracture will surely knock him out for the rest of the season.
Without Oscar PlanoFranjiverdes lost their top scorer and the key player in Beccacece’s attacking style that led to the team’s recovery in the aforementioned intermediate part of the first round. Between October and December, the Mostol native found the net seven times and emerged as a staple following the injury-related absences of Sergio León and Borja Garcés.
The aforementioned injuries were not only a burden on Beccacece during the match preparations. There was a period of the season when Elche suffered a lot of setbacks, including substitutions, in the early stages of the duels, which forced them to change both the dynamics prepared during the week and the substitutions of the match in question. For this reason, The Franjiverdes suffered such misfortunes against Villarreal B, Valladolid, Leganés, Eldense and Tenerife.. There are too many sticks.
Febas, hunted
Speaking of sticks, the number of fouls he’s drawn FebruaryElche’s game director. The best results of the Franjiverde team coincided with the moments when Real Madrid were able to present the best version of their young player. Something that competitors take into consideration.
Green Franji, numbered “14”, was by far the player with the most fouls in the category.. In a total of 78 incidents, referees imposed penalties for irregularities against Febas. The next name in the silver league is Iván Sánchez (Valladolid, an old acquaintance of Martínez Valero), a player with very different characteristics to the Catalan midfielder, who had 52 fouls, 26 fewer than Febas. This is a fact that shows that the rivals are clear about the main way to stop Elche, which must find a way to overcome these difficulties.