When he played, they called him “Spartan.” And stubborn when he began to coach.
Xabi Alonso left Real Madrid because of mutual agreement after losing to Barca in El Clásico. Immediately after this, Real Madrid announced that they appointed Álvaro Arbeloa as their new head coach. Arbeloa has worked in the club’s infrastructure for about six years and he has shown himself to be a technician with a modern view on football.

Arbeloa came to real twice and became a “spartan”

Álvaro is considered a Madrid boy, however, he first took his first steps in football in Zaragoza. He first attended the private school Colegio El Salvador and then joined Zaragoza’s academy. Already at age 18 he was attracting attention from clubs in Madrid.
From 2001 to 2006 Arbeloa played in the youth divisions and in Castilla. In that period Castilla returned to Segunda Division after being absent for fourteen years. The coach of the main team Mariano Garcia Remon saw something in the young defender and gave him his debut in La Liga in the match against Betis.
Arbeloa could not get a spot in the starting eleven: during the 2004/05 season he only played four games. In the next season he played exclusively for Castilla and in the summer of 2006 Arbeloa moved to Depor for €1.3 million. The contract had a clause that entitled the club to 50% of the price if Arbeloa sold to another club. It did not take long for this to happen. Arbeloa performed so well in the first half of the 2006/07 season that Liverpool came for him. The Reds paid €3.9 million for the Spaniard.
Arbeloa quickly adapted to the role of a fullback and played in the Champions League final in his first season, beating Barça en route to the title. Arbeloa stayed with Liverpool for nearly three seasons and in the summer of 2009 Florentino Perez returned to the presidency of Real Madrid and bought Arbeloa back for €4 million. The defender joined the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Kaká, who were all signed at the same time.
Arbeloa quickly paid back the investment made in him. For six years Arbeloa was a vital player in the team. In the first season he played alongside Sergio Ramos on the right side of defence, but soon after he was the undisputed number one choice at that position, while Ramos played in the centre. Arbeloa played under several coaches, but Mourinho was the one he appreciated the most: “Mourinho is probably the bravest man I’ve ever seen in the world of football,” Arbeloa stated. Arbeloa was not stingy with praise either. In the locker room he was nicknamed “Spartan” and often inspired his teammates before a game quoting from “300” and “Gladiator.”

Karim Benzema – tmssl.akamaized.net

Arbeloa was at the club for six years and won eight titles. In the last season, Arbeloa lost his spot in the team to the younger Daniel Carvajal and played only nine times, but he did win the 2015/16 Champions League with the club. After the final Arbeloa told his teammates in the locker room: “That is what Real Madrid is all about – when everyone thinks you’re dead, you go and win the Champions League.”
Arbeloa and the club parted ways after the season, and Arbeloa said that the reason for this was that he understood it was time for the young players to have a chance to develop. “I can keep playing here; nobody is kicking me out, but I know the time has come. I want to leave and allow the young ones to have their chance. It wouldn’t be fair to the coach and the young players for me to continue to play and cause them additional problems.”

After leaving Real Madrid Arbeloa went to West Ham United. Unfortunately, his time at the Hammers ended badly. Midway through the season he broke his leg and was unable to play for the rest of the campaign. Arbeloa’s final appearance was in December of that year in a match against Arsenal.

Arbeloa’s Coaching Career Is Being Praised and Compared To Alonso

Alonso – cnn.com

Since 2018 Arbeloa worked for Real Madrid as ambassador. After that he continued his coaching career and took charge of Infantil A (the youth team consisting of 13-14-year old players). During his first season Arbeloa’s team dominated and won the championship: in 17 matches they achieved 15 victories, scoring 104 goals and conceding only five.
Arbeloa continued to gain experience and gradually move up the hierarchy of the club. In 2022 he was the manager of Juvenil A (U19 team). Together with them he also participated in the Youth Champions League. In the span of three years in the tournament Arbeloa defeated Napoli (6-0), Celtic (6-0) and Atalanta (4-0), but did not advance past the quarterfinals.
Despite this, in the same 2022/23 season Arbeloa won a domestic triple crown with Juvenil A: the championship, the Cup, and the Copa de Campeones (Super Cup for U19 teams). Only once did Arbeloa lose with Juvenil A — against AZ in the Champions League. Also worth mentioning is that in that season Arbeloa had some kind of disagreement with Fernando Torres, who coached the youth team of Atlético. Both coaches exchanged insults and Torres was sent off after he pushed Arbeloa. Real Madrid came back from 2-0 down to win in the last five minutes.

Gonzalo García Torres – tribuna.com

In the next season, Arbeloa’s team did not win any championships, but in the following year Juvenil A won the championship again. Arbeloa also did a great job in developing the youth players in his care. Under his leadership, Nico Paz and Gonzalo García Torres stood out. The first one is today one of the most valuable and promising talents in Serie A. The second one became the top scorer at the 2025 Club World Cup and scored both Real’s first and last goal in the game against Alonso’s Real.

After successfully coaching Juvenil A for three years, Arbeloa was promoted to Castilla, replacing Raúl as head coach. Since Arbeloa took charge of Castilla over six months ago, opinions regarding him are divided. Arbeloa started the season poorly: in the first five rounds he won only once. But then followed a magical October with five consecutive wins after which Castilla fell into chaos again.

After 19 rounds, the team has 10 wins, 8 losses, 25:25 goals scored and conceded and is currently fourth in the third division. Direct promotion is highly unlikely — they are 13 points behind the current leaders Tenerife. Moreover, the division is extremely competitive: the gap between fourth and eighth places is only two points. So, Castilla may easily fall below the playoffs.

On the other hand, many people praised the way that Arbeloa’s Castilla played. Some even compared the tactics used by Arbeloa to those of Xabi Alonso in the first team. Arbeloa employed a 4-3-3 formation with an emphasis on short passes, high pressing and attacking play from the fullbacks. In his first press conference as Castilla coach, Arbeloa himself stressed that he wanted to establish a clear identity for the team. “This is the type of football I have always tried to promote since I began to coach. I want to create an exciting, courageous, dominant Castilla that radiates enthusiasm and passion.” Gonzalo García Torres mentioned the similarities between Alonso and Arbeloa in one interview, but Arbeloa stuck to the established methods and did not adapt to the opponent even when facing multiple injuries. This sometimes led to disastrous and meaningless possession and resulted in defeats.

Ancelotti’s – 365dm.com

Therefore, the promotion of Arbeloa to the first team creates many doubts. Arbeloa has much less authority as a coach than Alonso. Moreover, there is no indication that the new coach will follow Ancelotti’s model and focus on the strengths of the players and use democratic systems. On the other hand, Arbeloa may take advantage of Zidane’s example and free the team after his appointment.