Lack of focus, gaps in foresight, and imbalances. The general idea is that attacking too much can leave the defense exposed. Defensive fragility affects Elche CF. In the opening round of the competition, this weakness prevented a higher finish in the qualifying standings.
There is a common football saying: forwards win games, defenders win championships. There are exceptions, of course, when a team scores many goals, but that is not the case for the entire group. Beccacece.
Green Franjires stand out as the only team among the top ten to have conceded more goals than it has scored. Without improvement in this area, challenging for promotion will be tough.
In the last two matches, Elche showed a chance to crack the top six but allowed five goals: two at home against Cartagena and three in a recent Friday fixture at Oviedo. It is unacceptable for a team with title aspirations and strong promotion candidates to fall back to the First League in this fashion.
Elche falls into the same rock again and loses in Oviedo (3-2)
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Even when they led on the scoreboard and the flow of the game was favorable, the defense faltered and conceded. After collecting the last six points they almost pocketed, Elche now sits second in the direct promotion table.
This is a clear area requiring improvement and heightened focus. Beccacece will play the final match of the first round against Mirandés at Martínez Valero next Tuesday (21:30). Attention shifts to the second part of the campaign.
Beccacece: “We didn’t deserve what happened to us in the second half”
Franjiverdes scored 22 goals while conceding 21, a statistic that highlights the team’s ongoing balance issue. The two away wins in the opening round, at Huesca (0-1) and at Alcorcón (0-2), were the only times when the defense managed to keep a clean sheet.
Leganés leads the table with the fewest goals conceded across 11 remaining matches. Valladolid matched Elche on points in second place but trailed by four in the standings with 25. Gijón and Espanyol both show sturdy defense, with a lower rate of goals against, while Eibar has scored more than Elche and sits among the league leaders with 35 goals in total.
It remains crucial to maintain balance between scoring and conceding, and to prove defensively reliable. That balance has not been demonstrated consistently in the first round.
Moreover, most goals were the result of self-inflicted mistakes. Beccacece’s approach leans toward a forward-heavy lineup with a developed defensive line, which carries some risk. Opponents have learned how to exploit the Franjiverdes and hurt them on counterattacks.
goal controversy
San Román’s five goals conceded in the last two matches reignited the debate about who should be Elche’s goalkeeper.
After the early days, Beccacece opted to bench Edgar Badia and place faith in San Román.
San Román: “I’m returning to Elche to put pressure on Edgar Badia and let the best player play”
The Benidorm native delivered an excellent performance, and the Argentinian coach especially valued his greater agility in playing from the back, enabling smoother distribution of the ball.
However, two of the three goals conceded in Oviedo last Friday came from goal kicks and a misjudgment in the final moment. No major changes are anticipated at this stage, and there is confidence in San Román. Elche has two capable goalkeepers ready to defend the team, should the need arise.