Sarabia's Elche Worse Than Beccacece and Pacheta's Teams

Eder Sarabia's Elche continues to raise doubts and, above all, does not behave like a reliable candidate for promotion. In fact, it is tied on points with the relegation zone and continues to show a weakness in both penalty areas that does not inspire optimism among franjiverde supporters who remain loyally by their team's side.

Elche, after the draw against Granada in the last match (2-2), has worsened its start to the competition compared to the first five rounds of the past two seasons in which it competed in the Second Division. The team from Elche has only accumulated four points after winning one match against Córdoba (3-1), drawing with Granada (2-2), and losing to Huesca (0-1), Albacete (1-0), and Zaragoza (3-0).

These records are worse than those achieved by the team under Argentine coach Sebastián Beccacece, who also had a disappointing start after returning to the category following three years in the First Division. Under Beccacece, Elche had five points by the fifth round of the championship, one more than in the current campaign, after securing one win, two draws, and two losses during a tumultuous and disappointing end to the transfer market, mirroring what happened this summer.

The current Elche also falls short of the team coached by the beloved José Rojo "Pacheta" in the 2019/20 championship, which concluded with promotion to the First Division. After five rounds, the team from Elche had accumulated seven points with two wins, one draw, and two losses.

Only the Elche of the 2018/19 season, newly promoted to the Second Division, has worse records than the current team. That Elche only managed three points in its first five rounds thanks to three draws and two losses. That team, also led by Pacheta, took eight matches to secure its first win but eventually achieved safety without any trouble.

Elche's start this season is also worse than during its last relegation season to the now-defunct Second B division since in 2016-17 it had seven points out of a possible 15, three more than now.

Sarabia's team will play at home again next round as they host Mirandés at Martínez Valero on Sunday at 18:30. A reaction cannot wait any longer or the Basque coach will be increasingly questioned.