Real Madrid are never afraid of making a ruthless managerial decision and they did that once more on Monday evening when Xabi Alonso was sacked.
The Spaniard’s spell at the club lasted just seven months – with his final game being their 3-2 Spanish Super Cup final defeat by bitter rivals Barcelona on Sunday night.
Twenty four hours later he was gone and replaced by his former Liverpool, Real and Spain team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa.
As a player, Arbeloa helped Madrid win eight major honours from 2009-16, including two Champions League and one LaLiga title.
And Real will be craving that his success as a player can be emulated as a manager, with the Spanish giants still in the hunt for LaLiga, Champions League and Copa del Rey success.
The 42-year-old had been coaching their B team, Real Madrid Castilla – often deploying a 4-3-3 formation, since June and prior to that their youth teams.
If Real’s players are unsure about to what expect from their new manager, then they need not be.
The former right back labels himself as a disciple of his former boss Jose Mourinho – having made 122 appearances under his watch during three seasons at Real between 2010 and 2013.
Speaking in 2017 as a panellist on El Chiringuito, Arbeloa declared himself as a ‘Mourinhista’.
‘Of course I am a Mourinhista,’ he is quoted as saying. ‘Being a Mourinhista is a way of doing things and always being upfront and not being afraid to be yourself.’
‘I try to be as Mourinho-like as possible,’ he continued.
These quotes came two years after an interview with The Independent where he praised Mourinho’s loyalty.
‘He was like a bullet-proof vest for the players,’ Arbeloa reflected. ‘If someone was picked on by the critics he was the first to defend him.
‘He fought against the fixture list; against the kick-off times if he thought they went against us; or against a referee if he thought he had been unfair to Real Madrid.
‘He fights for the interests of the team without bothering about the fact that in the end his image is damaged because of it – he gets labelled as the moaner.’
Arbeloa’s Mourinho-like manners were brought to the fore in sharp focus in May 2023 during a Real Madrid Under 19 match against local rivals Atleitco.
Following a feud with then-Atletico U19 boss Fernando Torres, who was a former Liverpool and Spain team-mate, the pair squared up to each other on the touchline.
Since retiring, Torres had been putting on plenty of muscle and tried to use that to his advantage by confronting and shoving Arbeloa.
He then prompted to shout: ‘I’ll blow your head off’.
Arbeloa, who was clearly and gesticulating, responded: ‘Start whenever you want.’
The referee showed Arbeloa a yellow for his actions, before giving Torres his marching orders, to the delight of the home Real crowd.
Willing to stand up for his players will be something admired by the first team.
And when it comes to the technical aspect, Arbeloa has a clear philosophy in how he wants his teams to defend.
For the ex-right back, defending well does not mean winning the ball back all of the time, but rather controlling the areas they can play in and holding shape.
‘The key is to control the space and force the opponent to play where it does the least damage,’ he told The Coaches’ Voice in February 2024.
‘Defending is not always about going for the tackle, it’s about knowing how to bide your time.
‘Many times the mistake is to want to win the action instead of winning the situation.
‘Against very good players, if you rush, you’re dead. Individual marking only makes sense if there is a structure behind it.’
This meticulous approach could help bolster a Real side that have only kept one clean sheet in their last eight matches.
If things start to unravel quickly then the Spaniard could expect the same outcome as Alonso – with his first test on Wednesday away to Albacete in the Copa del Rey last 16.
Only time will tell if he can emulate his idol Mourinho though and be another ‘special’ manager.
