Elche CF faces a worrying and unsettling situation. After collecting a single point in the opening six rounds, the club remains the only team in La Liga never to win a match.
The looming clouds cast a tough horizon for the season. Yet the franciverdes are not going to disappear from competition for long—FIFA dates bring national team duties, and that pause gives Francisco and his squad a full two weeks to reset, regroup, and prepare for a friendlier schedule. Before the mid-November break and the World Cup dispute in Qatar, there is a window of opportunity where calm, recovery, and focus can turn the tide.
Elche has already played Barcelona (then a second-division opponent), Betis (third), Athletic Bilbao (fourth), Villarreal (sixth), and Real Sociedad (eighth). All of these sides were expected to be among the league leaders. The lone exception among mid-to-lower teams was Almería (sixteenth), where Elche earned the single point that briefly boosted their morale.
From here, a new chapter begins. The squad from Elche must leave behind the nightmare start to the campaign. The group will face an eight-game sprint that could define the season and Francisco’s tenure. This stretch presents a real chance to respond and demonstrate that Elche has more to say in their centennial season, proving to be an unexpected threat to the six-day rivals that challenged them early on.
When play resumes, franciverdes travel to Rayo Vallecano (tenth) on Monday, October 3 at 9:00 am. They will then host Mallorca (tenth) at home on Monday, October 10 at 21:00. The ninth matchday is a regional Derby against Valencia (ninth) at Mestalla. The mid-October inter-week session comes with Real Madrid at the Ilicitano Coliseum. The next four matches will be against direct rivals: Espanyol (seventeenth) at home; Getafe (fourteenth) at home; two November games before the World Cup break against Valladolid (eighteenth) at Zamora — and Girona (eleventh) at Valero.
If La Liga’s early schedule is used as an excuse, the next eight fixtures lose that credibility, except for the Real Madrid clash, because half of them are against teams fighting to stay up.
Francisco and his players understand this. A string of solid results could lift them out of the precarious position in the standings. That’s why they must prepare well during these two weeks, cast aside the negativity at the restart, and seize the momentum to turn those periods into points.
Trust in the coach
The leadership on the pitch mirrors the early senior figures: Gonzalo Verdú and Fidel openly expressed their full support and confidence in Francisco and the coaching staff. Others, like Okra, urged the team to stay quiet, work hard, and let performance speak. Now it is the players’ turn to respond. They’ve endured a tough spell, yet eight matches lie ahead to drive the turnaround.