Would Becca be crazy enough to try Castillo out as FWD? I think he's scored 2 goals and has 2 assists in the last 3/4 games that his team has sent him out in that position. Will be an exciting game TN, not truly a do or die game BUT everyone is coming from playing well and/or scoring for their clubs (except Valencia) - Do we panic if Enner is still the only one that looks dangerous? last time around our signature games were Colombian in Quito and Chile in Santiago. This time around Colombia in Barranquilla and…. Can we beat the Asunción curse?
Everyone looks TERRIBLE today except Galindez. If Moises isn't in the squad, everyone folds. The amount of gambetas that all the defenders are letting through is just mortifying. Hopefully we see a few subs and the team improves. Here's another one of these jugando en el llano hypotheses for Becca. I almost feel really bad that I paid $30 on fanatiz to stream this.
This was the most likely outcome on paper. It’s crazy every other game ended 3-0. Mostly because it was Top half of the table vs Lower half. 30$ is nuts, was it at least all the games? Or just Ecuador My humble analysis of the game: context: let’s level set and realize that the only country who won here was hot streak colombia and Alfaro-less Paraguay. Paraguay beat Arg Bra and tied Uruguay in this stadium with Alfaro. That’s the same outcome hot streak Colombia had at home lol with the above in perspective, this was not a bad result. I almost feel sorry for Becca who totally thought he would at least get some kudos. 1st point in Paraguay ever (I think), and without Caicedo. Preciado and Pervis look bang average. Very silly mistakes and were shoved off the ball easily. Kendry is getting his groove back but similar to his club, he needs to score (enciso will put those away). If Nilson takes his time and sinks his clear chance or Kendry at least makes the Gk work for it - the taste in our mouths wouldnt be this terrible. Closing thought: I have a feeling Becca is saving Caicedo and Plata to pair with Alan Franco for the Arg game. All this “he isn’t the right coach” could be washed away with a strong showing on Tuesday.
He needs to get fired. He is very candid regarding the collective level of the squad (it's a point I think we'd all concede), but I think it's fair to say that he has demonstrated an inability to extract new value from the same crop. This boils down to his mentality. He is always defensive against the criticism from the press because he cannot innovate with the cards he's been dealt. He can manage the squad, but he's not really leading them. The lads are good enough to go into a game and extract at least 1 point, but what gets us 3 is the chef's kiss- a brilliant tactical mind who can inspire players to do more than what they think their limit is. He took over in August of 2024- since then, Ecuador has scored 8 goals in 11 matches. 1/2 of that goal tally was against Bolivia, so if we omit that result (clearly an outlier), we scored 4 goals in 10 matches. Take it a step further- we've only scored in 4 of the past 11 matches, and we haven't scored in our past 4 matches. I'm raising the flag- this is a code red for us. It's time to start thinking bigger picture- we made it to the big dance in 2026, but are we ready to rise to the occasion and make deep runs in the bracket? The seleccion hasn't scored since March. Our goals scored tally is down from the 2022 World Cup (to date) by 14 goals. These are no longer data points that can be obfuscated or brushed off- the seleccion has a MAJOR problem on the heels of a tournament they're expected to try and finish at least in the Top 8. Yes, we can point to the defensive virtues, but draws in the WC = elimination. Plain and simple. These tournaments run on momentum and consistency, and right now, we lack any momentum and can only demonstrate defensive consistency which led to a string of 4 straight draws. Would we fare any better defensively to hold off an English, Spanish, or French assault on our defense for a full 90 mins? Or Japan? Today, I have my doubts. I think we'd get steamrolled. Peep the record: We have more draws than wins, and if we draw again in Guayaquil, our Win/Loss total would be exactly equal to our draws...with the talent we have on the squad, I cannot find a way to praise it without accepting that this is ultimately the best can produce, and if that's the case, the 2026 World Cup will be a nice 3-week holiday for the players who will get eliminated in the first round. The press, public, and even his players are right to demand more from him, and if he can't do it, the FEF needs to make the tough but practical call to get rid of him ASAP and bring someone on who can actually morph the project into something more balanced. Beccacece has the typical conformist mentality, and it's VERY troubling when we are now living out some of our best days in terms of individual talent development. Our old guard were lifers on the seleccion and they didn't all make it to the upper echelon clubs like what we see now, but they were gritty (and inconsistent), but when it counted, they played with heart. Our guys today seem too cautious, unorganized, and lack any sense of creativity to play good offensive ball. This is a coaching miscue. Remember seeing Moises cry after getting manhandled and eliminated by Senegal? That's the tape these dudes need to be watching every day before bed, because I think many have forgotten how bad that felt. That's the difference with Colombia- they might barely make it to the WC and sometimes fail to get there, but once they enter a tournament, they look like world beaters (until they get beaten). But nobody can question the grit. The past Copa America was perfect evidence. There was a stretch of that tournament where they looked like absolute killers.
Paraguay was the superior team for the first 30 minutes. Ecuador didn’t fold under pressure. Galindez had a couple of good saves. Ecuador started playing better in the last 15 minutes of the first half. In the second half Ecuador had a couple of good scoring opportunities. Defensively the team was solid and tactically disciplined. The issue is scoring.
I don’t think the FEF will fire him and I doubt he will step down. I hate to say it but we may be stuck with him until after the WC. As long as he’s Ecuador’s coach this is what we can expect. The identity of the team is known at this point - strong defensively, tactically disciplined, struggles to create scoring opportunities, abysmal finishing plays. Given the track record of the FEF I don’t think we would see improvement if Beccacece were to be fired or if he stepped down. The game against Argentina in the Copa America notwithstanding we saw the same results with Bas.
You're all making good points. To add to some of these facts this has been a common theme even after the 2022 WC. Many of us here even said: "Alfaro is not the guy anymore, we need someone to take us to next level". In comes BAS and he did more of the same, didnt lose horribly, squeezed out a very good win vs Uruguay and was sent on his way. Then came Becca and the squad is more of the same with a nice win vs Colombia. Before we fire this guy, and give the team yet another coach to get used too - we need to be sure of who that is. Are we just limited talent wise? Yes the guys upfront have been on a little scoring and assisting streak but that seldom stays true all season, even Enner shuts down badly. LDU says it well below. I think a ton of our frustrations comes from drinking the kool-aid, we are not Colombia, Chile, or even Peru. Those are teams that get HOT and have strong streaks and good showings in short tournaments. Ecuador ... well we are consistent in a long tournament, and thats who we've been since the turn of the century (or maybe more). I never watched the other eliminatoria formats so I can't speak to those games other than knowing it was usually in group format and sometimes even done in a few months (see the 1994 summer qualifiers). We are not a team with strong valleys in our performance, rather our characteristic is just "not being the worst and hanging out middle of the pack". Yes our players now put on the shirts of top teams in europe and go out there and win top club tournaments, but the national team has this innate trait of being ... good at not being horrifically terrible for long periods. Dusan and Bolillo got us through the initial humps of that mentality with the help of psychologists and a keen on exploiting the physical attributes from early age. Now we need to study what Chile did in that 2 copa america stretch where they beat prime Messi and Argentina, twice. -Have more than 1/2 superstars (check) -Good coach (?) --> is that really all we are missing. *disclaimer: this is just my POV, I might be overthinking or analyzing this terribly. I know very little of futbol tactics or conmebol history prior to 2000.
Ecuador has a great talent pool. Arguably the best in the country’s history in my opinion. There’s even more talented players on the horizon as well. Are we Argentina or France? No. That being said Ecuador has the talent to not only play well but do well in a short tournament like the World Cup or Copa America. What a lot of people find frustrating is that the NT is not playing to the potential we think they’re capable of. The NT has to set their sights higher. As things stand right now I don’t know if Ecuador can make a deep run in the World Cup. A lot of people don’t feel identified with the NT. A lot of that has to do with how the NT is being managed by the FEF. IDV has a fantastic job at developing young talent. The NT wouldn’t be where they are if it weren’t for them. It does seem like they have some sort of influence on player selection. There’s been several examples that point to a pattern. People have noticed. The NT es de todos. But lately that sentiment has come into question. There’s players from other teams in Ecuador that have deserve an opportunity but they’re being overlooked. That has disappointed a lot of fans to say the least. Chile was blessed with what they consider to be their golden age of talent. They had exceptional players and were well coached. They had the ambition to chase lofty goals and they obtained them.
I won't act like I know the full history of the seleccion's performance prior to the 98 WC (that we somewhat narrowly missed out on) b/c I was very young. I was in 5th grade by the time that tournament ended, but here's the stats: 1998 (did not qualify to WC) Ecuador finished in 6th place with 21 points...shy of the 4th place mark by 4 points and 13 GD. In that tournament, Ecuador played 16 games, won 6, tied 3, and lost 7. We scored 22 goals and conceded 21 goals. On average, Ecuador was scoring 1.375 goals per game. We seemed to have a strong home showing, but away, we had a few draws, and many narrow losses (except for 1 somewhat lopsided fixture vs. Uruguay where we scored 3 and still went down). 2002 (qualified to WC) Ecuador finished in 2nd place with 31 points. We played 18 games, scored 23 goals, and conceded 20 with a 9 win, 4 tie, and 5 loss record. On average, Ecuador was scoring 1.277 goals per game. Marginally lower than 1998 WCQs, but our record improved. Clearly, we had a strong home showing, tied more by 1 game, and fell in our loss ratio (improvement). Noteworthy achievement: Tin Delgado was tied with Hernan Crespo for top scorer (9 each). 2006 (qualified to WC) Ecuador finished in 3rd place with 28 points. We played 18 games, scored 23 goals (same as 2002), and conceded 19 goals (better than 2002) with an 8 win, 4 draw, and 6 loss record. Across 18 games, we maintained the same 1.2777 goals per game average as 2002. This team was a more seasoned crop from 2002, and we went on to the Top 16 at the World Cup (our best ever showing). 2010 (did not qualify to WC) Ecuador heartbreakingly missed out on South Africa by finishing in 6th place (1 point shy of the inter confederation playoff)...attributable to the dismal start with LFS. Across 18 games, Ecuador won 6, tied 5, and lost 7 after scoring 22 and conceding 26. The goals per game average dipped marginally to 1.222. This theoretically would have been our golden chance to shine with all the experience we had on the roster. Tragic. 2014 (qualified to WC) Ecuador finished in 4th place with 25 points, scored 20 goals, and conceded 16 goals (our best defensive showing to date) across 18 games. Record: 7 wins, 4 ties, and 5 losses with a 1.111 goal per game average (lowest to date). The one noteworthy stat was Ecuador's defensive showing. 2018 (did not qualify to WC) Ecuador finished in 8th place with 20 points and had mathematical chances to still qualify all the way to matchday 17. This was a colossal blunder of a tournament and the most extreme example of an implosion. 18 games played with a 6 win, 2 tie, and 10 loss outcome with 26 goals scored and 29 conceded. The goals per game average was 1.444 (at the time, our best since 1998) while our goals conceded was the worst since the 1998 WCQ. I think we all remember the hot start (accumulating 20 points in 12 matches) before then dropping 6 straight. This was a dumpster fire of epic proportions. 2022 (qualified to WC) Ecuador finished in 4th place with 26 points. We played 18 games, won 7, tied 5, and lost 6. We scored 27 goals and conceded 19. Our per game goal average was 1.5 (the best since 1998) while our goals conceded was 19 (second best since 1998). This tournament was marked by a flurry of goals in the first 4 matchdays (13 in total) which masked a relative scoring deficiency from matchday 5 onward where the average dips precipitously. There was almost a complete squad overhaul for this tournament, and we were tinkering a lot with formations and testing players. 2026 (qualified to WC) Fast forwarding to the present. We have qualified to the world cup and are presently in 4th place (dropping from 2nd). We started the tournament with -3 points. 17 games played, 7 wins, 8 draws (highest on record since 1998 and the most in CONMEBOL), and 2 losses (best in the CONMEBOL). We have scored 13 goals (tied for lowest in the qualifying zone) and conceding 5 (the best in CONMEBOL). Our per goal game average is .722. This is a total drop in stats. 4/13 total goals have come from 1 game. If you extract that 1 match (an outlier), we'd have a goals per game average of .562. Recap (offense + defense ): 1998: 1.375 goals per game / 1.312 goals conceded 2002: 1.277 goals per game / 1.111 goals conceded 2006: 1.277 goals per game / 1.055 goals conceded 2010: 1.222 goals per game / 1.444 goals conceded 2014: 1.111 goals per game / 0.888 goals conceded 2018: 1.444 goals per game / 1.611 goals conceded 2022: 1.500 goals per game / 1.055 goals conceded 2026: 0.722 goals per game / 0.294 goals conceded (1 matchday remaining)
The fact that the defense can hold the game down and work hard to keep things at zero so the offense can flex some muscle shows a workrate imbalance that can lead to these demonstrations of frustration (even if it seems benign). https://www.futbolecuador.com/site/...-y-el-enojo-de-willian-pacho-en-la-tri/163101 Piero won a double in Germany with Leverkusen going undefeated in the regular season. Pacho won the Champions League and knows what it's like to compete and win at the highest level. Caicedo has grinded it out to win a big title with Chelsea (though he didn't play last night). Thus, I think the writing is on the wall. The lads will start to fester in that frustration and a split locker room might take over (again). Beccacece cannot get head of this fast enough.
For the next game I think we should start Yeboha over Paez and Rodriguez over Enner. Paez is still recovering form Enner may not be able to show up in big games anymore. Yeboha and Rodriguez have had their moment before we need to give them more chances. Going forward we need to take advantage of the our October friendlies. We have to play games without Moi, Pacho and Hincapie. Today we played with out Moi and it showed. I can't imagine if we get put in a scenario where we play with out all 3. Our bench needs to step up and we really need to leave Arreaga & Moises Ramirez out.
The lads have a reason to be mad. You cant go into games being happy for just a tie. In a short tournament, ties will be the death of you. I think the players need to have a talk with the coach before it gets bad.
Egas and Becca are grasping at straws to try and find something to be positive about. Good leadership at this point would be to accept the mea culpa and actively change that which is going wrong. It starts with the call-ups, it goes to tactics, and lastly, it requires soul searching from the FEF head and coach to understand why they are doing this job (beyond the check). I totally agree with a player intervention on Becca, but if that happens, it's over for him- he's cooked.
I doubt they will fire him, the results are enough to justify keeping him around. From their perspective we are technically undefeated in our last 10 matches, 4-6-1 with a goal scoring problem. A few things have to happen imo for the FEF to fire him before the world cup. 1) Be placed in the group of death, the chances of going into pot 2 are shrinking, If we lose to Argentina, beating USA, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico won’t be enough to put us in there by the December. The last thing they need is for Ecuador to be doomed from the start. Getting grouped is the last straw before Egas and Beccacece get lynhced. 2) Some losses and bitter draws. Change the narrative from undefeated in 10 games to winless/scoreless in 10. Put the emphasis on that Beccacece is not inly incapable of taking Ecuador to that next level but regressed. 3) I dont think our current set of players have the character for this, but yes they need to have a player intervention. There has to be resentment in the squad. Must be frustrating play tactical football for PSG, Arsenal, Chelsea ect.. to come home to some mid level coach’s tactics they probably know are garbage. Even with all of this, consider the following, is the grass greener on the other side. Now we see it wasn’t after FSB. Will they be able to find a coach willing to take up the cause, last minute with little to no preparation. Despite what Montero is saying or smoking, Mourinho is not coming here. The reality is we are stuck with this guy whether we like it or not I do think that Egas will fire him after in an attempt to save face before the next election, him and Loor have set us back a generation.
Llamada de Gol para Beccacece ☎️📞🇪🇨🇪🇨🔥🇪🇨🔥🇪🇨🔥🇪🇨🔥🇪🇨🔥Gooollllll Ecuatorianooo 🇪🇨🔥Doblete del jugador ecuatoriano Jeremy Arévalo con el Racing de Santander 🇪🇸 que ganó por 3-2 al Almería pic.twitter.com/OuTi06bGrk— TERADEPORTES (@Teradeportes) September 7, 2025
Óscar Zambrano, dobrodošel v Ljudskem vrtu!Zadnje ure pred zaključkom prestopnega roka so bile nadvse živahne, pridružil se nam je tudi 21-letni ekvadorski vezist. Pogodba do 2029, pravica nastopa po 3. novembru 2025. #MiSkupajEnoSmo pic.twitter.com/oAuvAFCLXD— NK Maribor (@nkmaribor) September 7, 2025
He the most expensive player of the league. In the end I'm happy he found a club. He needs time to recover from the whole dopping situation.
Apparently the same club that owns Hull City owns Maribor. It’s possible he’ll get some minutes there and then go to Hull City.
🚨Aucas llegó a un acuerdo verbal con Al-Taawon por el préstamo del delantero Cristhoper Zambrano. *️⃣Los clubes ya cruzan documentos por una cesión por un año con cargo de u$s 200.000 y una opción de u$s 1.2M por el 80%.ℹ️Para @StudioFutbol presentada por @bet593 pic.twitter.com/r4zqYahCEz— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) September 8, 2025 Not a good move in my opinion.
For tomorrow game I think we should line up like this. Galindez Franco, Ordoñez, Pacho, Hincapie Plata, Caicedo, Vite, Angulo Yeboha, Rodriguez I think this is the way we can get the best performance from each position. Franco had a better showing at RB than Preciado and Ordoñez. Estupiñán is great but he has his mistakes. Vs Paraguay most of their chances came from his side. I think this defense can work really well and is worth trying. We should experiment and aim to get 3 points vs Argentina. We have faced them many times recently and it time we pull a win. Estupiñán, Minda, and Enner coming in the second half can really change the game up with their pace alone.
Esteban Paz is spittin'. https://www.futbolecuador.com/site/...comportamiento-como-dt-de-la-seleccion/163150 Let him cook!
I saw we have Roldan as referee. I dont know why CONMEBOL still has this bum as a referee. He'll do anything to benefit Colombia and refuses to check VAR after any decision.