“If I try to be Mourinho, I’ll fail spectacularly.” Little could Alvaro Arbeloa know that the headline statement from his opening press conference at Real Madrid would age quite so well in light of the Portuguese’s subsequent character self-assassination. Arbeloa too, deserves some credit for the positive light it’s now cast in though.
Arbeloa was initially cast as the man to give Real Madrid a hard edge again, the manager willing to open the ‘any means necessary’ box. With quotes like ‘I try to be Mourinhista in everything I do’ drifting around the internet, and a reputation for opening that box during his playing days, Arbeloa has walked the party line with military precision at Real Madrid, but with unexpected self-deprecation.
His tone has grown increasingly soft over recent months. Speaking to people familiar with Arbeloa, there is no lack of self-belief, yet he makes the noises of a humble coach. Set up for a victory lap against Real Madrid’s arch nemesis Pep Guardiola, after outwitting him twice in a week, Arbeloa left the surely appetising slice of cake in the fridge. “I wouldn’t dare think I could beat someone like Pep at anything. We won because of the players’ hard work,” he deflected with modesty. Arbeloa had borrowed Guardiola’s maxim for the game; make sure you have an extra player in midfield.
Effusive in his praise for his players, Arbeloa set about immediately suturing wounded egos when he came in. Starting with Vinicius Junior, he and Fede Valverde were cited as one of the three driving the dressing room divide under Xabi Alonso. By personality or design, Arbeloa’s handling of the job far more resembles Carlo Ancelotti than Mourinho.
The now famous ‘grey sofa’ in his office, where players can come and air their grievances, concerns and insights, puts Arbeloa on a level with his players. Rather than an authority figure, he is a confidant, another staff member seeking to optimise their performance. In essence, working with and for them. It’s how President Florentino Perez has always seen the coach’s role, and it’s working.
Even when asked about what style of football he wants to play, Arbeloa has been vague, saying a week in that “Winning is the most important thing here, regardless of formations.” Espousing ethereal traits such as character, commitment and mentality, a month later Arbeloa let slip that “the goal is always to be solid.” Of course, without the winning, none of this is relevant. Exactly a month ago, Real Madrid were coming off back-to-back La Liga defeats to Osasuna and Getafe, neither performance solid, and both exhibiting a dearth of football. A day later, a report emerged saying the Real Madrid players still saw him as a youth coach.
Not many had Thiago Pitarch down as the solution, and Arbeloa deserves all of the credit for it. The introduction of the 18-year-old has been an injection of blind faith. Any run Arbeloa asks for, Pitarch makes it. Any role he’s given, Pitarch learns it like a method actor. It turns out, Arbeloa is a pretty good youth coach. Intelligent and up-tempo, his presence in the middle of the pitch has allowed Real Madrid to unlock their best performances of the season against Manchester City, in a setting where the executioner was ready with the guillotine for Arbeloa.
Having gradually earned the trust of Vinicius and Valverde, the pair are in their best form since 2024, with 11 goal contributions in Real Madrid’s last five games. Arbeloa has found a functional formula with Pitarch connecting the dots, and cultivated a relationship with the dressing room. After a long winter, the green shoots of optimism have been allowed to peek through at the Bernabeu. Now, Arbeloa has two months ahead that will define his future at Real Madrid, but he also has the question to answer.
Only on four occasions since Arbeloa took over have Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius shared the pitch for longer than ten minutes (three wins, one defeat). There is a temptation to trivialise ‘a good problem’, but the evidence under Ancelotti and Alonso is that with this current framework, fitting them together is a problem. It’s rather unfortunate for the Englishman that it was Bellingham’s first start that brought Alonso’s first loss of the season, a destabilising 5-2 derby loss.
⚔️ Thiago Pitarch no da un balón por perdido.
RealMadridGetafe | LALIGAEASPORTS | LALIGAHighlights
— LALIGA (@LaLiga) March 2, 2026
Introducing Pitarch as Real Madrid’s plumber was inspired, but it’s about to get much harder to use him. In his six starts, Pitarch has benched a half-fit Eduardo Camavinga and an out of form Franco Mastantuono; two of the least problematic absences. The use of four traditional midfielders, with Brahim Diaz capable of acting the fifth, has given Los Blancos a balance without dulling them in the final third.
Without Toni Kroos, Ancelotti struggled to smooth over Real Madrid’s shortcomings. Alonso attempted to mould Real Madrid into a machine, with predictable outcomes for better or worse, but took sandpaper to the rough edges rather than warmth. Arbeloa is the latest to give try propose the question to Bellingham, Mbappe and Vinicius – can you play together while remaining solid?
The positive for him, is that he is in a better position to ask that question. The Bernabeu-approved enthusiasm of Pitarch, Manuel Angel and Cesar Palacios has required the rest of his stars to play with more vigour of their own. Bellingham, Vinicius and Valverde were humbled after a vicious whistling in January, and are working to earn their way back into the good graces of Madridistas. They know that come the end of the seaosn, Arbeloa is below them in the list of scapegoats.
A month on from their soul-sapping Getafe loss, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched for the question to be whether Arbeloa can fashion this collection of stars into a winning team, rather than if Real Madrid can win with all three. Arbeloa has worked himself into the question, now he has to come up with right answer.
