The link-up between Klinger and Paez for the IDV u19s just a few minutes ago. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/z1dvz57ZdM— Ecuador Football (@Rafa_ecu) August 27, 2022 Klinger will play with the sub 20 next year. Paez is supposed to be the next big talent not just from IDV but Ecuadorian football in general. For reference Paez is 15 and playing for Independiente's sub 19 squad. They'll join the first team squad within the next year or two.
Serie B looks like it will expand to 12 teams keeping the current participating teams and adding 2 teams that ascend from Segunda Categoria. They also talk about using a U25 format with 6 players over age. This is a very interesting thing to implement and would only further develop our youth players and encourage Serie A teams to scout Serie B. About 3 teams already have U25 eligible squads. 2 are not far from it and the rest will have to let go of a few players around 4 to 6. We will see alot more former top players play in 3rd and 4th division which will only strengthen the lower divisions and show younger players how competitive and important it is to stay in top form. Many of the previous generation of players will have a shorter career or retire early. This new generations is really gonna start to make room for themselves. https://www.ecuagol.com/noticias/pr...-su-formato-y-contaria-con-12-equipos/188407/
This is pretty pragmatic. We'll see how Ecuador's leagues fare after this winter transfer window (post World Cup). I'd suspect we'll see lots of attention, which could signal a large number of signings if Ecuador performs well in the tournament. This does turn into a double edged sword - assuming there is approval of this measure in the Serie B and with some degree of squad depletion, the actual quality of play might be adversely affected (short term), but it also does promote a stronger sense of competition, which in the long term creates a stronger base of players....assuming teams are better managed and can find good financially sustainable business models to stay afloat.
The good thing is that some of these teams already have relatively young squads. Teams like Olmedo and El Nacional had serious financial issues and are coming back with younger squads. Serie B in general has had a very good level of competition to the point where they come ready to compete in Serie A. The same could be said about Segunda Cagtegoria teams they play hard. Serie B teams letting go of some veterans/ not being able to sign as many will mean they will flee to 3rd/4th division teams. We will see growth in the competition there. Remember when 9 de Octubre had Danny Cabezas, Danny Luna, Walberto Caicedo, and Frickson Erazo in 3rd division. If we had Copa Ecuador back then that would have been such a cool team to see. We will see more teams in 3rd division with big name veterans.
It would be interesting thing to see, but generally speaking, these teams have absolutely zero chances to remain financially solvent- it's a major problem in Ecuador across the board...even with the bigger clubs. With the exception of IDV, most clubs operate in the red or at break even. Why? GolTV doesn't pay on time- it has caused budget issues. Several clubs are still on back pay to staff, former players, and agents, etc. from old/bad deals + legal fees. It's one of the big reasons why clubs like Liga have even cut payroll. Fan attendance is notoriously poor. If the game doesn't have big implications or is an international tourney fixture, there is almost zero chance of a team making enough money to even make payroll for the week...meaning sponsor and TV funds are that much more important to the business model. This has always been a terrible business model. Understandably, the household wealth of most fans in Ecuador will reflect the average wages of the provincias/cities, and it's generally low- even match attendance is costly when someone is making $400-$500 monthly. Forget merchandise sales or other "extras". Many still purchase, but we're a small country with a smaller consumer base that's financially stable. Worse off during Covid. Tickets sometimes cost $3 for a "general" spot and the fans won't go. Financial gains from transfers have really only benefitted a handful of clubs, and even still, it's not enough...for anyone except IDV. It's not a reliable funnel of funds anyway. General management at almost every club is terrible. It gets too political, few of the leaders have made sound financial decisions, and the clubs sink deeper and deeper into debt. Case and point - El Nacional, SD Quito....Barcelona whose debt has not really been tamed. I'm all for promoting competition, but there doesn't seem to be a way Ecuador can sustain a financially healthy and stable 3-tier national league system for the long-term without deep subsidies (at the expense of the larger teams who are the real ratings and sponsor draws, which will make them resentful). If the English FA system starts financially faltering as of the League 1, and many other second or third tier leagues in bigger countries suffer budgetary pinches, there's little hope for Ecuador. If the ladder promotes on youth development and can focus solely on that, I think the 2nd and 3rd league can function well...especially if Ecuador does well at the WC and we can be more consistently competitive in the Libertadores and Sudamericana. Those smaller clubs can be player development factories, but not everyone will ascend to IDV levels of wealth- it's just not how it works. Most of the Serie B teams are too small to be relevant and definitely don't have astute management like IDV or some of the bigger clubs. I know that I've probably mentioned IDV way too many times for a singular post, but they should be considered an outlier of success. It's just not easily replicable.
Serie B teams switching to the U25 format mean they will have younger squads and lower payrolls. It should encourage Serie A team to look at them and scout their players. We have been seeing more of that as a result of Copa Ecuador. Look at Liga and IDV looking at Kevin Rodriguez from Imbabura for example. The older veterans who get stuck in the free agent limbo will have to accept lower wages in what ever team they can find being in 3rd or even 4th division remember Alex Colon man joined a 4th division team with a low salary and that team dissolved regardless due to poor management recently. Things like that I feel will send a good message to younger guys who lack discipline. Let look at Serie B now. The oldest team if I'm not wrong is Athletico Santo Domingo. Who originally had a fairly young squad in 3rd division and sold their players and bought older veterans. MJ Quinonez, Luis Luna. Daniel Angulo, Alex George, Armando Monteverde and even more memorable names from from Liga Pro. El Nacional and IDV Juniors probably have the youngest squads and are on top atm. I think this is a good move competition wise. With older players fleeing to 3rd and 4th division our competition will continue to grow from the bottom up. Ascending teams will continue to go to upper division ready to play. I do agree management and finance could be an issue tho. But if teams stick to lower payrolls and youth hopefully it will be sustainable. The format benefits our league in the long run if all aspects play in favor.
This would be a mega signing for Cuenca tbh. A few years back he was linked to BSC and I liked the idea of him coming to Ecuador. Según informa el periodista César Enrique Vega, en Colombia, se está manejando el nombre del delantero Michael Rangel, como opción para #DCuenca. Acá el audio, con el colega, confirmando la noticia además de todos los datos del jugador. pic.twitter.com/p2Emi9vYEv— Juan Diego Cornejo (@jdiegocornejo70) December 5, 2022
I thought our last transfer window was odd but why are BSC going after Segundo Portocarrero and Luis Arce ? Liga let so many players go and picked up Lionel Quinonez. I hope he not our only LB for the season. And we let BSC pick up Jordan Moran. Emelec picking up Cruz & Espinoza was surprising. No one is looking at Luis Canga & Cuero from Aucas. They would be perfect for Emelec IMO.
Miguel Rondelli just brought Tommy Chamba and Gilmar Napa to Emelec. Napa going to Emelec is really promising IMO. Bone should be on his way out and they need a good GK for the future. I think Rondelli could put them back on track with their youth development. I think Emelec should also look into Michael Mieles & Edison Mero from Delfin.
Aucas is once again making a number of good and promising moves in the market. Thiago Vecino was just announced to join their team. This is hands down probably the biggest and most promising singing for the whole league so far. Im guessing they want results internationally too. Wilker Angel, Sergio Quintero, Michael Mieles, Erick Castillo + keeping Canga, Cuero, Quinonez, & Fydriszewski is gonna keep them very competitive.