Barcelona SC and Emelec are in decline: Guayas football, sunk like the Titanic

Decline. That’s the harsh word that Ricardo Armendáriz chose for the painful present of Guayas football, which hit rock bottom in the 2023 season. It sank like the Titanic. Due to the failure of its representatives, the previously powerful and successful football of the Albiceleste province is seeing the growth, at the national and international level, of two clubs from Pichincha, its eternal rival.

Thus, the final of the 2023 Pro League tournament will face Independiente del Valle, the current champion of the Conmebol Cup Winners’ Cup, and Liga de Quito, the holder of the Copa Sudamericana. For the first time, two Conmebol monarchs will claim the crown of Ecuador, while those from Astillero failed.

Emelec 2023, too bad! 86.20% of the time they were among the worst in the table, and a run of 15 consecutive qualification for Conmebol tournaments went to hell

Guayaquil, the city where soccer was born in Ecuador, the one that created professionalism in this sport, the one that had the first national champion, the pioneer with its teams in the participation in the Copa Libertadores, the former star factory, had with Barcelona SC, Emelec, Guayaquil City and Búhos have a disastrous 2023 season.

Why did Barcelona SC qualify directly for the 2024 Copa Libertadores group stage?

Four disasters in Buenos Aires

Club Búhos went to the second league from Serie B (until recently Guayaquil Sport, whose current leaders do not even know that their club was founded in July 1970, not 1899, as they foolishly believe because they associate it with Club Sport Guayaquil). Guayaquil City, with consistently poor campaigns in the top flight, said goodbye to the senior category with some terrible numbers (for example, only five goals scored in the second phase).

Will Pachuca sue Barcelona SC over Byron Castillo?

Emelec, the fierce dominator of the last decade, this year offered the worst campaign in its history and tired of stringing negative records (a streak of 15 consecutive qualifications for international competitions, among several others). And Barcelona SC finished “satisfied” with qualifying for the Copa Libertadores and watching the final of the competition in Ecuador on television after surrendering two stages of the Pro League. This damage display includes Nueve de Octubre, who were relegated to Serie B in 2022 and will continue there until at least 2024.

Barcelona’s triumph over Guayaquil City qualified them for the 2024 Copa Libertadores group stage, but they were left out of contention for the Pro League final

What happened? You don’t have to go back half a century or 25 years to find happy hours, especially for Shipyard teams. Between 2012 and 2017, Emelec and Barcelona SC shared six league titles (four for the blues and a couple for the yellows, and twice they finished without a final).

‘They do better in Quito’

However, in 2021 and 2022, things went wrong. Two striking, symptomatic events took place. Guayas clubs allowed teams that never established themselves in the national championship to do so at their expense. Independiente achieved the final (held in Capwell) against Emelec and then Aucas against Barcelona, ​​with the win included in the Monumental.

But it’s not all about bad results on the field. The source of the disaster is deeper. Quality players no longer come out in Guayaquil. EL UNIVERSO published an extensive note on this in March 2021. “The fingers of the hand would be enough to count the footballers born in Guayas who play for some of the local clubs in First A. Even one hand is enough for any of them. two Shipyard team”, it was pointed out. And then an alarming fact was mentioned: “Ten Guayas footballers are registered for this Serie A season in Astillera clubs.”

Armendáriz, who made his Emelec debut in 1973 at the age of 19, gave this newspaper his view of the Titanic that is Guayas today and its football. “Look at the Ecuadorian youth teams and you will understand something: most of their members are players from Independiente and Liga de Quito, only one or two from Barcelona and Emelec. They do better in Quito. In a few years, those from the Valley have achieved better things than Barcelona and Emelec combined. Michel Deller has a world-class project, earns millions of dollars from the sale of players and has spectacular talent hunters, who catch the best, because no one takes the bad ones. Even Orense is doing better in their minor leagues than the Guayaquil clubs,” says The Ball.

Emelec and Christmas gifts

Between 2009 and 2018, Emelec set an amazing record of excellence, unprecedented in Ecuador, standing on the podium of the national championship for ten consecutive editions (first, second or third), but in 2023 they had a terrible performance. They went nine games in a row without a win, were in the relegation zone for several days and were the worst home team in the first stage.

Raúl Avilés was strong when he spoke about the role of the team with which he returned to the Olympic Games in 1988. “Emelec should send Christmas presents to Guayaquil City, Gualaceo, Libertad FC and Cumbaya, who did worse. Thanks to them, Emelec did not come down. “It is terrible that Blue fans, who at this moment in previous years were celebrating because they are virtual champions, or because they will play in the final, today are celebrating because they did not advance to Serie B,” he commented. Turbine to SPACE.

Armendáriz and Avilés dig deeper to try to find more reasons for Barcelona’s and Emelecistas’ disappointing campaigns, the joint worst since 2027, when the Astillero team failed to enter the league.

‘Old’ and ‘packages’

“Leaders of Liga and Independiente not only work and plan better, but also hire better,” says Armendáriz. The former midfielder adds that “Emelec brought packages like José Alberti and Carlos Villalba, and Diego stayed Devil García, who is useless. And Barcelona insists on a group of aging players. They don’t run anymore, they are all over 30, like Damián Díaz, Fernando Gaibor, Fidel Martínez, Carlos Rodríguez. Will 2024 have more dynamics? Of course not! Bullfighters are staffed by old men.”

According to Avilés, devilish and quick in his time as a striker, “the prospects at Barcelona were fatal because many of their signings did not live up to expectations. Nevertheless, he did something for the demands of his fans by being forced to fight in the tournament.”

Barcelona ran out of chances to win in the first stage two dates before the end, and the second escaped after their poor defending let three wins they secured against Mushuca Runa and Cumbayá turn into draws; and against Aucas, victory turned into defeat. The Toreadors saved only two points from those rivals, and it should have been nine.

Better leaders, in Quito

Terrible signings, poor performance in smaller departments and to complete the ingredients of the toxic mix of mistakes, managerial mistakes are added. That last factor also works against the Guayas teams and in favor of two of AFNA’s star teams today, according to Armendáriz, who was a champion with the Electric team in 1979 as a player and runner-up as a coach in 1996.

“In Guayas, we are in decline. Barcelona and Emelec offer nothing to young players. Quito leaders do that, that’s why they go there. Deller has a project that is one of the best on the continent and that doesn’t stop making money. And Esteban Paz is back in the fight, and with the millions that the League received for winning the Copa Sudamericana, it will certainly strengthen the team better for 2024. We are here to stay. Emelec require six or seven reinforcements at the top level because José Pileggi made a mistake. And Barcelona must rejuvenate its team. Until when will Díaz play?”

For Turbine Avilés, who agrees with Ball, Guayas today loses on the field and in comparison with the managers of the successful Liga and Independiente. “There was no maturity at the level of leadership or in the team, with cases of indiscipline. That’s why there were problems. There was no single commanding voice in the leadership. It was noted because there was even a strike by players due to non-payment of salaries, and it started with Dixon Arroyo. This is something that has not happened in Emelec for several decades. “Emelec took a risk and was on the verge of relegation.” (D)