Imanol Alguacil begins work at Olympiacos as president lauds appointment | OneFootball

Imanol Alguacil has begun work as Olympiacos head coach after being confirmed that morning as José Luis Mendilibar’s replacement. He took charge of his first session as he looks to unlock the squad’s potential.

According to Diario Vasco, before the session the Bishop of Piraeus, Serafín, delivered the annual blessing to the squad and staff. Alguacil was then introduced with his backroom team, which includes former Real Sociedad analyst Ibon Peñagarikano, who also worked with him in Saudi Arabia, while vice-president Christian Karembeu observed training as club strategist.

President Evangelos Marinakis told the players Alguacil fits the club’s mentality and winning spirit and is among the best coaches they could have appointed. He also underlined Olympiacos’s strong link with Basque coaches, citing Ernesto Valverde and Mendilibar before Alguacil, and said that success has stretched across 16 years.

Marinakis thanked Mendilibar and Darko Kovacevic for their contribution, calling them part of the club’s family. He presented new sporting director Antonio Cordón and named Geoffrey Moncada to lead recruitment across the multi-club group.

Setting out the targets, Marinakis challenged the team to win the championship and to go the distance in the Europa League, framing it as motivation. He said the squad can achieve special things if they work together.

After a record outlay of 69 million under the previous sporting department, he added that they have assembled the best squad they could have.

Source: Diario Vasco

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”