ALGUACIL’S FIRST TACTICAL ORDERS + COACHING-STAFF CHANGES

One of the biggest tactical questions surrounding Imanol Alguacil's arrival was whether Olympiacos were about to swing dramatically away from José Luis Mendilibar's aggressive football toward a slower possession game.

The earliest evidence from Rentis suggests something more nuanced. Alguacil's first instructions have reportedly centered on high pressing, fast circulation and relentless intensity. According to bwinSPORT FM's Friday-morning report, the new Olympiacos coach immediately demanded discipline and 100% effort in both training and matches. On the football side, the first concepts introduced were pressing high and moving the ball quickly, with players expected to operate continuously at high speed and intensity.

That is important because it suggests Alguacil is not trying to dismantle the strongest part of Mendilibar's Olympiacos. He may be trying to refine it.

Mendilibar intensity, Alguacil structure?

Mendilibar's best Olympiacos teams were ferocious without the ball. They pressed. They attacked second balls.

They played vertically and they were comfortable turning matches into physical contests played at an uncomfortable tempo.

Alguacil's Real Sociedad sides were different in possession, but they were hardly passive.

His strongest teams also wanted to suffocate opponents after turnovers and recover possession rapidly.

The distinction was usually what happened after the recovery.

Where Mendilibar was willing to attack space almost immediately, Alguacil often sought an extra level of positional organization before accelerating. Friday's reporting therefore hints at a hybrid: keep the aggression, improve the structure.

That could prove much more realistic than asking a squad built and conditioned for Mendilibar's football to suddenly become a patient positional-possession team within 48 hours.

"Faster circulation" may be the crucial phrase

High pressing is unsurprising. Fast ball circulation is more revealing. One of the criticisms surrounding Olympiacos before Mendilibar's dismissal was that possession could become predictable when opponents dropped into compact defensive blocks.

The ball might move, but not necessarily quickly enough to disorganize the defense. Alguacil appears to be addressing that immediately. Quick circulation is not simply about passing faster. It requires:

players receiving with better body orientation,

shorter distances between passing options,

third-man combinations,

midfielders positioning themselves before the ball arrives,

and moving the opposition until a lane opens.

That is where players such as Gustavo Puerta, Remo Freuler and Chiquinho become especially interesting.

Olympiacos possess several midfielders capable of processing the game quickly. The question is whether Alguacil can synchronize them.

The coaching staff is changing too

There is another meaningful development behind the scenes. Alguacil has reportedly already been joined in Athens by a fitness coach and a goalkeeper coach, with another assistant and an analyst due to become part of his staff.

Olympiacos' existing fitness coach Christos Mourikis is expected to remain, giving the new regime some continuity. Goalkeeper coach Panagiotis Agriogiannis, however, is reportedly leaving. That is not an insignificant change. Goalkeeper coaching is one of the most specialized relationships inside a football staff, particularly when a club has an established starter.

A new goalkeeper coach will inherit a department with its own routines, technical preferences and relationships.

It is therefore another indication that Alguacil is not merely occupying Mendilibar's office while leaving the rest of the structure untouched. He is building his own working environment.

Video before revolution

The report also says Alguacil has spent substantial time studying Olympiacos' roster on video before and immediately after accepting the job. That matters given how little live training he has had. Against OFI, personnel decisions may tell us more than the formation itself.

Does he immediately trust Armando González?

How does he use Puerta?

Does Mouzakitis receive a central creative responsibility?

Who forms the deepest midfield line?

How aggressive are the fullbacks?

Does Olympiacos press with the striker alone initiating the action, or does the entire midfield jump behind him?

Those details will provide the first proper indication of how much Alguacil believes can be changed immediately.

The first squad selection comes today

Alguacil is expected to name his first match squad Friday for Saturday's home match against OFI. Predictions are unusually difficult because there is effectively no established hierarchy under the new coach yet. That makes the squad announcement itself meaningful.

Players who were drifting toward the margins under Mendilibar could suddenly return. Others who seemed automatic may have to prove themselves again.

And with Olympiacos still pursuing a striker — Mauro Icardi and Paulinho remain the two experienced free-agent names currently reported on the list — the attacking hierarchy remains unsettled as well.

For the first time since Mendilibar left, however, there is now actual football evidence to examine.

And the initial message from Alguacil seems remarkably clear: Olympiacos are not being told to play slower.

They are being asked to think and move faster.