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It looks from the recent team selections that Antonio Calderons first priority is to stop the other side scoring and to try and build on that in the last half hour of the game by putting on a more attacking formation with substitutions. At the start of the game the home team were quick out of the blocks with Cadiz always on the back foot and on a number of occasions poor passing out meant that possession was lost enabling the home team to keep up the pressure. However despite the greater ball possession Elche rarely bothered Contreras or the Cadiz goal, except on one occasion when a mistake by Paz let in Luna but the Elche midfielder could not take advantage and the score remained at 0-0. The home team continued coming up against the brick wall that was the Cadiz defense but with so many defensive players Cadiz were not able to cause any problems to the Elche defense with Pavoni and Lobos playing wide and Nano running aimlessly as the target man. Gradually however Cadiz weathered the storm and started to play some good football at pace although still without any real penetration. Just before half time however los amarillos got the ball in the net when Paz rose to head the ball home from a free kick but he was adjudged offside and the goal was ruled out. At half time Calderons plan seemed to be working and no doubt he was looking to bring on his big guns later on in the second half to try and take all three points.
The warning signs have been there for some time now but with another defeat, the sixth in the first ten games, and the team playing a very dangerous defensive game, principally because of the lack of firepower upfront, everything is looking rather desperate. Most of the players are giving everything but they are getting frustrated and are clearly feeling the intense pressure after all the pre-season hype of hopes for a return to the Primera Liga. This is clearly evidenced by the fifth red card in the last 4 games and the very high number of yellows being regularly pėcked up. Unless the team can start conjuring up goals the situation will only get worse as the frustration amongst the players increases because unless they can score they cannot win matches and if they cannot win matches they cannot move up the table. Regrettably the lack of fire power is not the fault of the team or the two trainers used so far this season but is as a direct result of the new Management team which deemed it good business sense to unload both Medina and Acuņa on the last day of the close season leaving the club with just the 2 new signings, Dani and Casas, as recognised forwards. Next up is the local derby against fellow strugglers Xerez which kicks off at 18.30 next Saturday 3rd November.
The Team Contreras Cristian Paz De La Cuesta Vicente Miguel Garcia Fleurquin Rivas Lobos(79mins Parri) Nano(65mins Enrique) Pavoni(65mins Gustavo Lopez)
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Team
news this week sees Vicente return to left back after his suspension with
Cristian moving back to right back and no place in the squad for Vella. Enrique
drops to the bench with his starting place taken by Miguel Garcia and the only
other change is that Nano starts up front in place of Dani who drops to the
bench.
The
start of the second half began with some very strange things happening, firstly
the referee booked Contreras for marking out the position of his posts on the 6
yard line with his feet, something that you will see many keepers do every week
across the globe without getting into any trouble. This was followed in the 52nd
minute by Fleurquin collecting his second yellow card for a fairly reckless
challenge reducing Cadiz to ten men, however the equilibrium was rectified just
three minutes later when Miguel was shown a straight red card for an apparent
attack on Rivas. With 25 minutes remaining Calderon put on Enrique and Gustavo
Lopez for Pavoni and Nano in the hope that these two experienced and skillful
players could open up the Elche defense and snatch a goal. Unfortunately that
plan was soon thrown out of the window when Cristian collected his second yellow
card when he handled the ball whilst attacking to the right of the Elche box,
reducing Cadiz to 9 men for the final 20 minutes and resulting in Enrique
dropping into a much more defensive role as los amarillos were forced to put up
the blockades again to try and take a point away from the game. As at the
beginning of the first half however the home team rarely caused Contreras too
many problems and when he did falter, when he made a mess of a punch out, De La
Cuesta was there to help him out. As the fourth official indicated an extra five
minutes to be added Elche pressed hard but the Cadiz wall held out and as the
time started ticking into the 6th minute it looked as if it was going to end 0-0
but a final high ball into the Cadiz area was met by one of the smaller Elche
players, Alberto, and he cruelly headed the ball past Contreras to make it 1-0
at the final whistle.