The End of an Era: Olympiacos Part Ways With José Luis Mendilibar, Imanol Alguacil Set to Take Over

There are managerial changes, and then there are moments that close an era. For Olympiacos, this is unquestionably the latter.

José Luis Mendilibar is no longer the manager of Olympiacos. The club officially announced the end of its relationship with the 65-year-old Basque coach on Wednesday night, bringing an extraordinary period in the club's history to an abrupt conclusion.

And another Basque coach is already being positioned to succeed him. Imanol Alguacil, the architect of one of the most impressive sustained periods in modern Real Sociedad history, is being reported in Greece as the man Olympiacos have chosen to begin the next chapter.

The appointment has not yet been officially announced, so that distinction matters. Mendilibar is officially gone. Alguacil is, for now, the reported successor. But if the transition is completed, Olympiacos are not merely changing managers. They are changing football philosophies.

Goodbye to the man who gave Olympiacos its greatest European night

Whatever happened during the final weeks of José Luis Mendilibar's tenure should never obscure what happened during the previous two and a half years. Mendilibar arrived in February 2024. A little more than three months later, Olympiacos were European champions. The 1-0 victory over Fiorentina in Athens delivered the UEFA Europa Conference League and the first major European trophy in the club's history. It immediately made Mendilibar immortal in Piraeus. But he didn't stop there.

Olympiacos subsequently won the historic domestic treble during the club's centenary era — league, Greek Cup and Super Cup — further cementing Mendilibar's place among the most successful coaches the club has ever employed.

That history explains the tone of Olympiacos' farewell. The club did not simply announce the termination of a coach. It effectively inducted him into its pantheon. Olympiacos described the Conference League triumph as the realization of a dream shared by every Olympiacos supporter and every Greek, before acknowledging that Mendilibar would forever occupy a special place in the club's history.

They finished by addressing him by the nickname that followed him through his greatest nights in Piraeus:

“Strategist.”

There was no attempt to rewrite history. And there shouldn't be. Mendilibar leaves as one of the most important managers Olympiacos have ever had.

So why did Olympiacos fire him?

That's the uncomfortable part of the story. Because this wasn't a team in collapse. Olympiacos had just beaten Volos 3-2 in the Greek Cup.

Gustavo Puerta had produced an encouraging debut. Armando González scored twice. Olympiacos had won both of their Cup matches. Yet something had clearly changed behind the scenes. Mendilibar had been under increasing scrutiny during the previous days, and the appointment of Antonio Cordón to take control of Olympiacos' football operation suddenly takes on even greater significance.

Earlier on Wednesday, SPORT24 reported that Cordón was returning with effectively overall control of the football department. That included involvement in the coaching structure. Hours later, Mendilibar was gone.

That sequence is difficult to ignore. The 3-2 victory over Volos ultimately appears to have been Mendilibar's final opportunity to alter a decision that may already have been forming.

And there was a strange symbolism to his final press conference. Mendilibar was discussing the future.

He praised Puerta. He talked about González developing into competition for the injured Ayoub El Kaabi.

He explained how Olympiacos wanted to attack vertically. He spoke like a manager preparing for the next game. Hours later, there would be no next game.

The timing is extraordinarily aggressive

This is what makes Evangelos Marinakis' decision so fascinating. Olympiacos are not changing coaches in December after falling out of a title race. They're doing it in September. And they are doing it immediately before the European campaign begins.

Olympiacos face Jagiellonia at Karaiskakis on September 16. That means the next coach will effectively walk straight into European competition. There will be almost no traditional bedding-in period. No preseason.

No transfer window in which to build his own squad from scratch. No months of experimentation.

Instead, he inherits a roster assembled for another coach and will be expected to make it function almost immediately. It is an enormous gamble. But if Imanol Alguacil is indeed the replacement, the choice also tells us something important.

Olympiacos appear to believe this squad is capable of playing a very different type of football.

Enter Imanol Alguacil

If Mendilibar represents intensity, verticality and controlled chaos, Imanol represents structure.

The 55-year-old Basque coach spent more than six years leading Real Sociedad's first team.

This wasn't simply longevity.

He built one of Spain's most recognizable football projects. Real Sociedad won the Copa del Rey under him.

They repeatedly qualified for Europe. And in 2022-23 they finished fourth in La Liga, taking Sociedad back into the Champions League. His teams became known for combining technical football with aggression.

That's the important part.

Calling Alguacil a “possession coach” undersells him. He wants the ball. But he also wants it back immediately after losing it.

What will change tactically?

Potentially, almost everything about Olympiacos' buildup. Mendilibar's football is fundamentally direct.

He wants territory. He wants pressure. He wants second balls. He wants the opposition defending toward its own goal.

And he is perfectly comfortable bypassing midfield when the situation demands it. Alguacil's Real Sociedad teams generally approached the same objective differently. His preferred structures have frequently revolved around the 4-3-3, with variations into a 4-2-3-1 depending upon personnel and opponent.

But formation isn't really the important difference. The relationships are. Alguacil wants his team to create numerical superiority during buildup. The goalkeeper participates. The centre-backs split. The holding midfielder attempts to position himself behind the opponent's first pressure line.

The interiors move between lines. Fullbacks provide or manipulate width. The objective is not possession for possession's sake. It is to use possession to move opponents out of position. And then attack the space that appears. That could be fascinating with this Olympiacos squad.

Gustavo Puerta suddenly becomes even more interesting

One player immediately jumps off the page. Gustavo Puerta. Mendilibar praised him after the Volos match because of his positioning and ability to create opportunities. Under Alguacil, those characteristics could become fundamental. At Real Sociedad, the midfield was the team's tactical engine. Players had to understand:

when to drop,

when to receive behind pressure,

when to rotate,

when to advance,

and when to counterpress immediately after losing possession.

Puerta's ability to receive and progress the ball could make him an extremely interesting interior. And he isn't alone. Olympiacos suddenly possess an unusually diverse midfield group. Santiago Hezze brings ball-winning and defensive coverage. Chiquinho can operate between midfield and attack.

Dani García offers positional discipline. Remo Freuler provides elite experience and tactical intelligence.

Puerta adds athleticism and vertical progression.

Alguacil would have options. Lots of them.

And then there is the wide talent

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the potential appointment is what Alguacil could do with Olympiacos' attacking midfielders and wingers. At Sociedad, his positional structures were designed partly to manufacture advantageous situations for technically gifted wide players.

The team would attract opponents inside before finding the free player outside. That became particularly effective with Takefusa Kubo. Olympiacos now have players capable of benefiting from similar mechanisms.

Leon Bailey.

Gelson Martins.

Gustavo Sá.

Chiquinho.

Jota Silva.

And others capable of rotating into those spaces. Bailey is particularly intriguing. If Olympiacos can manipulate defensive structures so that Bailey receives repeatedly in isolated 1v1 situations rather than collecting the ball with two defenders already around him, his explosiveness becomes considerably more dangerous.

That is exactly the sort of attacking advantage Alguacil's positional structures have historically tried to manufacture.

But don't mistake Imanol for a passive coach

This is perhaps the biggest misconception that will appear if the appointment happens. Alguacil's Sociedad didn't simply pass. They pressed. Aggressively. His teams frequently defended in a medium-high block and attempted to force opponents toward particular areas before attacking the ball. And when possession was lost?

Immediate reaction. Counterpress. Recover the ball before the opposition can establish its transition.

In that respect, the transition from Mendilibar may actually be less dramatic than it initially appears.

Both coaches want aggressive teams. Both coaches want territory. Both coaches want opponents uncomfortable in possession. The difference is how they arrive there. Mendilibar tries to overwhelm you.

Alguacil tries to manipulate you.

The biggest question: can Olympiacos execute it immediately?

That is where this decision carries real risk. Alguacil's football requires coordination. Spacing matters.

Angles matter. Distances between players matter. The timing of midfield rotations matters. The position of the fullback relative to the winger matters.

The counterpress depends upon where players were positioned before possession was lost.

These concepts take training time. Olympiacos don't have much of it. Their European campaign begins in a week.

So if Alguacil arrives, don't expect Real Sociedad 2.0 immediately. The intelligent approach would be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Preserve elements of Mendilibar's pressure. Preserve the team's vertical threat.

Preserve the defensive aggression already embedded in the squad. Then gradually introduce the positional mechanisms. Because attempting to rewrite the entire playbook in seven days would be asking for trouble.

The Saudi chapter cannot simply be ignored

There is also an uncomfortable piece of Alguacil's recent résumé. His move to Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia did not work. He took over in July 2025 after leaving Sociedad but lasted only a little more than six months. Al-Shabab eventually terminated his contract in February 2026 with the club sitting 14th and only six points clear of the relegation zone.

The Saudi Pro League subsequently confirmed that Noureddine Ben Zekri replaced him. So this is not a coach arriving directly from the peak of his Sociedad project. His most recent job was a failure. Olympiacos have to determine why.

Was it tactical?

Was it squad construction?

Was it cultural?

Was Alguacil's highly structured football difficult to install within that particular environment?

Or did one poor six-month spell simply represent the kind of setback virtually every long-term coach eventually experiences?

His six-plus years at Sociedad provide a much larger sample than six months in Riyadh. But the Saudi experience should still be part of the evaluation.

Cordón's fingerprints are suddenly everywhere

This is where the entire week starts fitting together.

First: Darko Kovačević leaves.

Then: Antonio Cordón returns.

Olympiacos reportedly give Cordón broad control over the football department.

Then:José Luis Mendilibar leaves.

And now:Imanol Alguacil emerges as the reported replacement.

Those events do not look isolated anymore. They look like restructuring. Olympiacos appear to be changing the architecture of the football operation from the top down. Cordón becomes the central sporting authority. Geoffrey Moncada remains focused heavily on scouting and player identification. A new coach arrives aligned with the next version of the sporting project. That is not a managerial change. It is a reset.

The cruel irony of Mendilibar's departure

There is something inherently uncomfortable about all of this. Football clubs constantly talk about loyalty.

Then football reminds us that sporting cycles have expiration dates. Mendilibar delivered something Olympiacos supporters had dreamed about for generations. Ferencvaros. Maccabi Tel Aviv. Fenerbahçe. Aston Villa. And finally Fiorentina in Athens.

Ayoub El Kaabi's header. The Conference League trophy raised into the Athenian night. Nothing that happens now changes any of it. Mendilibar didn't merely win trophies at Olympiacos. He changed the club's understanding of what was possible. Before him, Olympiacos wanted to win a European trophy. After him, Olympiacos know they can. That psychological shift might be his greatest legacy.

Now comes the gamble

Imanol Alguacil — if the appointment is completed — inherits something very different from the Olympiacos Mendilibar inherited in February 2024. This is a European champion. A domestic champion. A club investing aggressively.

A squad containing players such as Bailey, Puerta, Hezze, Mouzakitis, Chiquinho, González, El Kaabi when healthy, Martins and a rapidly changing supporting cast. And expectations have changed accordingly.

Alguacil will not be asked merely to stabilize Olympiacos. He will be asked to evolve them. To maintain Mendilibar's competitive aggression while creating a more sophisticated possession structure. To dominate Greece. To develop young players. To integrate expensive acquisitions. And to make Olympiacos dangerous in Europe again.

That's an enormous assignment. And perhaps that's ultimately the best way to understand what happened Wednesday night. Olympiacos did not dismiss José Luis Mendilibar because his tenure failed. They dismissed him after it succeeded beyond anything imaginable when he arrived.

The club has decided that one cycle has reached its end and another needs to begin. Whether that judgment is visionary or unnecessarily ruthless will only become clear with time. But one thing should already be beyond debate. José Luis Mendilibar leaves Olympiacos as a legend.

If Imanol Alguacil really is the next man through the door, he isn't replacing a failed manager. He's replacing the man who changed Olympiacos history. And that makes this one of the most difficult jobs any Olympiacos coach has inherited.