After the qualification for the 2026 World Cup for the national team ended this year, there is a bittersweet taste in the football environment. Those who defend performance as acceptable rely on results. But the rest of us believe that, although it is true that the order is a priority for placement, we have the right to demand that Tricolor plays well and therefore achieves results.

This last point of view is based on the belief that before us is a generation of football players with a good technical level. But since he is not playing well so far, there has been a controversy between the reasoning of coach Félix Sánchez Bas, who today is supported by the management, against the criteria of the press, which is supported by the fans.

The relationship between journalism and football coaches has a long history of cordiality, but also hostility. The fundamental reason for these distinct differences lies in the juxtaposition of notions about the quality of the technician, his knowledge, the way of designing and building a team with the opinion of the specialized press, which from the balcony of criticism opens the stage for analysis and, based on theory and its discernment, makes a breakdown in order to work out the reasons for the sports result.

In this broad scenario, it is also possible for the interests of each to be distorted by a conflict of convenience between the two actors. The debate becomes heated when ideas are strongly defended. A vivid example of the contradiction between what the press writes and the thinking of criticized coaches was shown by Jorge Valdano, the coach of Real Madrid in the 1995-1996 season, when he was asked about the performance of his team. He replied: “I don’t know what the street says, but I don’t care.” I talk about meat with the butcher, I talk about football with the taxi driver. I know more (about football) than all butchers combined, than all taxi drivers and certainly all journalists combined.”

The Argentine coach related to our football, Gustavo Quinteros, when he was no longer receiving praise and applause for his work in the Ecuadorian team in the qualifiers for the World Cup in Russia 2018, responded to the reproach with his usual suburban speech: “I don’t pay attention to them .some idiots because in this country everyone says something stupid.” And in a different style, Gustavo Alfaro, when the results were negative, repeated that criticism must be endured, because those who make it do not understand how complicated football is; that only they knew how to understand it and no one else. Gustavo Alfaro, hunter of impossible utopias, convinced many with his good words. Of course not me.

Meanwhile, Félix Sánchez Bas, when he appeared at the press conference after the victory over Chile last Thursday, was asked thus: “You know there is dissatisfaction in the atmosphere. Despite the victory, the fan is dissatisfied. When will we see his playing identity or his football stamp, as he promised upon his arrival?” Without further ado, the Spaniard, perhaps aware that the question had to be asked, immediately answered: “It’s all a matter of taste,” and that he would continue to work on it.

He added that he respects the claims of the public, but that he relies on the results in the ranking and that he won 11 points out of a possible 18, and that if he was reduced by three points, it is not his fault. Although it is an honest answer, I think it is not satisfactory, because if it is due to the time and the games, Sánchez Bas has been leading the national team for ten years and he has not convinced the performance in any of them. If he thinks that Ecuador responded to his idea of ​​work and goal, we will not be able to agree.

This opens up an analysis of the eternal debate in football: play well or win without? These two currents caused divided opinions. Johan Cruyff said that “playing well without winning is meaningless; but also to win without philosophy and without style.”

And of course, the criterion that results players adhere to is that the means, in this case a good game, is not the most important, but on the other hand, the goal is: victory. That’s the way of thinking of those who don’t want to make form a priority in order to get results, and Sánchez Bas, who boasts of the points won in the tie, is taking that path. I honestly believe that the Spaniard, who leads the national team, with a large team of advisors and instructors, is not clear that he is no longer in Qatar, where, if he achieved results, he was praised, and if he did not, there were no questions like the one he is facing today in Ecuador.

Undoubtedly, there is a fan base here that is more cultured towards soccer tastes, unlike in the Arab world, where the press depends on criteria and opinion derived from an institutional hierarchical order, something that the Ecuadorian press will never accept. Sánchez Bas should know a great detail.

Colombian Francisco Maturana, a respected connoisseur of football on and off the field, has the following criteria for this topic we are discussing today: “In football, you cannot find the absolute truth, because there is always something you like and something you don’t like.” I don’t like it.. Today, football is a prisoner of results. It is said that such a team plays well because it wins. But there are others who understand the importance of manners; the shapes make you fall in love. There are principles and sub-principles. The result is not everything. Memorable teams are those that combine form with results. We live in a time when winning is everything. “You can respect it, but not share it.”

Managers who pride themselves on this must prioritize style, maintaining balance: effective defense, creation and attack. The result should be the result of a good game, but I believe that Sánchez Bas is and will be a result player. Although he must really like to play well, for now he prefers to prioritize the goal for which he was hired: to qualify for the World Cup in 2026. Therefore, he emphasized: “We know what we want and how we want to achieve it. ”

The sensitivity that football produces is unique. Therefore, there will be those who would rather play badly but win; and we who prefer to win or lose with aesthetics, and always respect the stand.

But be careful, today Sánchez Bas can be safe because he gets results, even if people don’t like how the national team is playing. What will happen if the Tricolor continues to walk on the edge and defeats arrive without an agreement? Will you be able to continue to argue your way of working? Will it withstand the growing criticism? Let’s hope that, for the sake of our football, the coach of La Tri will react and reconsider that we have the sporting potential to combine a good game and victory.

Today, Félix Sánchez Bas enjoys statistical arguments, but he must remember that the best equation in football is that of a coach who, having the tools, uses them to offer good collective football. That way you will always be closer to triumph and permanent recognition. (OR)