FOUR GAMES CAN'T ERASE WHAT MANOLO SÁNCHEZ DID FOR THIS ESTEPONA TEAM

CD Estepona has four points out of twelve, but the season has just begun, and the coaching staff already proved last season what they’re capable of when the pressure and challenges are at their peak

Soccer has a particularly short memory. Four matchdays can be enough for a loss to sting all week long, for a team to raise doubts, and for conversations about a project to start revolving around what isn’t working. But four matchdays can also be enough to look at the standings, see a completely different picture, and remember that, in a 34-game season, practically everything is still up for grabs.

CD Estepona heads into Matchday 5 with four points out of twelve, following one win, one draw, and two losses. The start isn’t what we all would have hoped for—that much is clear. Last Sunday’s loss to Tenerife B also left some issues that deserve to be analyzed and addressed by the coaching staff.

But this isn’t about denying that the start hasn’t been what we hoped for. It’s about putting it into context.

Because the very same standings that currently place Estepona in the lower half of the table also show that the team is just three points away from the promotion playoff spots and six points behind the leader. And this isn’t about turning those facts into any kind of promise, much less an obligation to fight for promotion after just four matchdays. It would be absurd to do so now.

But it’s just as premature to use four matchdays to draw definitive conclusions to the contrary.

The Segunda Federación has just begun, and there are still 30 matchdays ahead. Estepona isn’t where it wants to be, but it’s also not at a point in the season where we can yet determine where it will ultimately end up.

And that’s where Manolo Sánchez comes in.

NOT SO LONG AGO, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE

Just a few months ago, the situation was radically different.

Manolo took over as head coach of CD Estepona in December 2025, when the team was going through a particularly difficult period. The RFEF itself notes that Estepona entered Matchday 15 in second-to-last place, with just seven points and 14 points away from direct safety.

What happened next is now part of the club’s recent history.

With Manolo at the helm, Estepona turned things around, fought until the very end, and ultimately secured its place in the Segunda Federación. Their league record since his arrival stood at 10 wins, seven draws, and three losses, totaling 37 points in 20 games, before facing the relegation playoff.

And that story ended precisely where the team will play again this Saturday: at the Francisco Muñoz Pérez Stadium.

On May 16, Estepona defeated Real Madrid C 3–1, following a 2–2 draw in the first leg, and secured their place in the Segunda Federación.

It was one of those nights that explain why soccer cannot be analyzed solely based on a single-moment standings. The Muñoz Pérez stadium rose to the occasion, the team rose to the occasion, and the coaching staff found solutions when the situation demanded practically everything.

That doesn’t mean Manolo is untouchable.

Nor does it mean that his decisions can’t be analyzed, his strategies questioned, or the team asked to step up. All of that is part of soccer and the debate surrounding a coach.

What it does mean is that four matchdays shouldn’t be enough to erase everything that came before.

WE MUST DEMAND, BUT WE MUST ALSO PUT THINGS INTO CONTEXT

CD Estepona needs to improve.

It needs to find more consistency, correct mistakes, regain its form, and make the team more recognizable on the field. The four points earned so far are far from the start any fan would have imagined after the excitement generated over the summer.

And that is precisely why Manolo and his coaching staff have their work cut out for them.

But it’s one thing to demand a response and quite another to treat four matchdays as a definitive verdict.

Professional soccer demands results, of course. Coaches make their living off them, and teams are built around them. But it also demands perspective. Especially when we’re talking about a project that has just begun, with a revamped roster, new players, new systems, and still many automatic responses to be developed.

The team’s own inner circle has acknowledged that there’s room for improvement and that we’re still in the early weeks of the season.

And there’s something even more important: even the harshest criticism of Manolo stems from a point we shouldn’t forget. The credit earned last season exists because it was the coach himself who built it on the field.

MUÑOZ PÉREZ MUST BE MUÑOZ PÉREZ AGAIN

Saturday brings a new opportunity.

At 7:00 p.m., CD Estepona will host CD Don Benito in the fifth round of league play. The team from Extremadura arrives in Estepona with 10 points, sitting near the top of the standings, while our team has four.

It will, therefore, be an important test.

But it will also be something more.

It will be the first opportunity of the season for the Francisco Muñoz Pérez Stadium to once again become the venue that played such a crucial role during the second half of last season.

Because if that final stretch proved anything, it’s that this stadium can make a difference.

It did so on those Cup nights against Leganés and Málaga. It did so during the fight to avoid relegation. And it did so, above all, on that night of May 16, when more than a few fans didn’t even want to look at the standings anymore, and the team ultimately found a way to stay in the Second Federation.

Now it’s time to start over.

Not from scratch, because no one starts from scratch after what we experienced last season. But from a new starting point, with a new roster, a new season, and a competition that has barely begun.

FOUR GAMES DON’T DEFINE A SEASON

Perhaps the most interesting debate isn’t whether Manolo Sánchez is right or wrong, whether the team is playing well or poorly, or whether the decisions made so far are right or wrong.

The debate should be much simpler: What does this team need to get back to resembling the team we all saw grow during the second half of last season?

That’s where the focus should be.

The coaching staff will have to find answers. The players will have to raise their game. The club will have to continue supporting the project. And the fans will have every right in the world to demand results.

But demanding results doesn’t mean giving up.

And supporting the team doesn’t mean stopping critical analysis either.

Soccer allows for both at the same time.

Today, CD Estepona is three points away from the playoff spots and six points behind the leader. In a few weeks, that gap will be different. It could be wider or it could be narrower. That’s why using the standings after Matchday 4 to talk about promotion would be just as premature as using them to talk about failure.

The season isn’t decided in September.

It’s decided after 34 matchdays.

And we’re only on the fourth.

THIS SATURDAY, EVERYONE TO MUÑOZ PÉREZ

CD Estepona needs to improve. There’s no question about that.

Manolo Sánchez needs to find solutions. That’s true, too.

The players need to step up, and the team needs to start picking up points more consistently.

But all of that can be done with the Muñoz Pérez crowd cheering them on.

Because just a few months ago, this very stadium witnessed one of the most important nights in CD Estepona’s recent history. Because this very coach, along with his coaching staff and players, managed to turn a situation that seemed practically impossible into a survival celebration enjoyed by an entire city.

That guarantees absolutely nothing this season.

But it is part of this club’s recent history.

And it deserves to be remembered.

This Saturday, at 7:00 p.m., it’s time to roar again.

For the team. For the coaching staff. For the players. For the crest.

And, above all, for a CD Estepona that has just embarked on a journey with thirty matchdays still ahead.

Four matchdays can’t erase a history. And they certainly can’t decide how a season that’s just begun will end.

CD ESTEPONA FANS
The voice of the fans