Players - Álvaro Arbeloa

Álvaro Arbeloa
Birthdate: 17 January 1983
Birthplace: Salamanca, Spain
Other clubs: Real Madrid (2000-06), Deportivo La Coruna (2006-07), Real Madrid (2 / 2009-16), West Ham United (2016-17)
Signed from: Deportivo La Coruna
Signed for LFC: £2.64m, 31.01.2007
International debut: 26.03.2008 vs. Italy
International caps: 56/0 (9 at LFC) - 19.11.2013
Liverpool debut: 10.02.2007
Last appearance: 17.05.2009
Debut goal: 07.04.2007
Last goal: 08.11.2008
Contract expiry: 30.07.2009
Win ratio: 57.14% W:56 D:28 L:14
Games/assists ratio: 19.6
Total games/goals opposite LFC: 2 / 0
League games / goals / assists: 66 / 2 / 3
Total games / goals / assists: 98 / 2 / 5

Player Profile

Arbeloa joined Deportivo in the summer of 2006 from Real Madrid where he had mostly featured in Real's B-team, Castilla. Depor's financial difficulties forced them to sell Arbeloa, who had been a regular since his arrival, making a handsome profit on the deal. When Liverpool failed to bring Lucas Neill to the club, they bought Arbeloa to be Steve Finnan's understudy at right-back. Arbeloa had a baptism of fire against Barcelona in the Champions League where he showed his versatility in the left-back position and kept Lionel Messi quiet. Although his reputation from his time in Spain was mainly as a right-back, in a lot of matches, especially early in the season, he was switched to the other flank; and he was also able to fill in as a central defender if required. On the whole, he was dependable, even if he never came close to doing anything much at the other end of the field, as he had done when scoring at Reading in April 2007.

Arbeloa established himself as the team's first-choice right-back in the 2008/09 season when Liverpool should have won the League title. The signing of Glen Johnson in the close season of 2009 led to much speculation that Arbeloa would move on which was confirmed when he signed a five-year contract with his former club, Real Madrid. Arbeloa has played in roughly 70% of Real Madrid's Primera matches in his four seasons there and in 2011/12 he added a Spanish championship winners' medal to the Copa del Rey winners' medal won a year earlier as Real reclaimed the title after it had been in Barcelona's possession for the previous three campaigns. Arbeloa was in Spain's successful squad that won the European Championship in 2008 but only appeared in one match, against Greece, during the finals. He can also call himself a world champion even though he only featured for 13 minutes in 2010. Arbeloa was finally a regular in the team when Spain repeated their Euro success in 2012, appearing in six games. Arbeloa made forty first-team appearances for Real Madrid in the 2012/13 season to take his grand total for the club past the one hundred and fifty mark.

Arbeloa appeared in just less than half (18/38) of Real Madrid's La Liga matches in the 2013/14 season. Real finished in third place behind Atlético Madrid and Barcelona. The defender also played in eight Copa del Rey matches but a knee-injury meant that he was unavailable for the final against Barcelona in Valencia, which Real won 2-1. In the Champions League Alvaro played the full 90 minutes in four of Real's six group matches but the same knee-injury ruled him out of the knock-out stages as Real joined their city rivals Atlético in the Champions League final in Lisbon. At the end of 2014/15, there was some speculation linking Arbeloa with a return to Anfield but instead, Liverpool signed Nathaniel Clyne and Joe Gomez. His Real Madrid contract was extended for another year but he was a bit-part player as the club won an 11th Champions League title, appearing in just two group games. Arbeloa became a free agent in the summer of 2016 joining West Ham United on a one-year contract on the last day of the 2016 summer transfer window. He managed just four appearances for West Ham and was out injured with a leg injury from December. At the end of the season, he announced his retirement from the game. He returned to Spain and is an ambassador for Real Madrid and media pundit. 
Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 66 3 3 26 0 98
2006-2007 9 0 0 5 0 14
2007-2008 28 1 3 9 0 41
2008-2009 29 2 0 12 0 43
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
9 835 Chelsea
6 382 Arsenal
5 450 Portsmouth
5 439 Wigan Athletic
4 360 Reading
4 360 Fulham
4 360 Manchester City
4 326 Aston Villa
4 309 Middlesbrough
4 284 Newcastle United
3 300 Everton
3 270 Manchester United
3 270 Blackburn Rovers
3 270 West Ham United
3 270 Marseille
3 249 PSV Eindhoven
3 243 Tottenham
2 210 Standard Liege
2 180 Barcelona
2 180 Real Madrid
2 180 WBA
2 180 Toulouse
2 180 Porto
2 180 Hull City
2 180 Sunderland
2 180 Atletico Madrid
2 94 Bolton Wanderers
1 90 Luton Town
1 90 Cardiff City
1 90 Derby
1 90 Stoke City
1 90 Besiktas
1 90 Birmingham City
1 61 Charlton Athletic
1 2 AC Milan
Total Started/substitutions
93 Started
10 On the bench
5 Substitute
9 Substituted
Total Venue
51 Home
46 Away
1 Neutral
Total Competition
66 Premier League
26 Champions League
3 FA Cup
3 League Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
98 56 28 14 57.1% Rafa Benítez
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 2 0 0 0 0 2
2006-2007 1 0 0 0 0 1
2007-2008 0 0 0 0 0 0
2008-2009 1 0 0 0 0 1
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Opponent
1 WBA
1 Reading
Total Started/substitutions
2 Started
0 Substitute
Total Competition
2 Premier League
Total Goal minute period
1 1-15 minutes
1 76-90 minutes
Total Goal origin
2 Open play
Assists per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 3 0 0 2 0 5
2006-2007 1 0 0 0 0 1
2007-2008 1 0 0 1 0 2
2008-2009 1 0 0 1 0 2
A more detailed look at the player's assists
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 10.02.2007 Newcastle United St James' Park League
50 05.04.2008 Arsenal Emirates Stadium League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 15 07.04.2007 Reading Madejski Stadium League
Related Articles
Alonso sends touching tribute to retiring Arbeloa

June 25, 2017 on Goal.com.

20 questions with Alvaro Arbeloa

An article from Liverpoolfc.tv on 5th of September 2007.

Arbeloa up for the challenge

Liverpool's latest Spanish import claims he is not frightened of trying to catch both Manchester United and Chelsea at the head of the Premier League. Published 1 February 2007.

Arbeloa leaves Real

On July 24, 2006 Real Madrid Castilla's Captain left for Deportivo.

Related Quotes

"My first fortnight at the club was inhumane. Rafa Benítez criticised everything I did, from the way I did some basketball practice to how I played my football. But now I am grateful to him for filling me in on how the team works."

According to Alvaro Arbeloa his first two weeks at Liverpool were no picnic

The sale of Arbeloa, Hyypia and Alonso was an important loss. Alvaro was a player who did a vital job for us, always played to a high level and his flexibility was a huge bonus. Sami may not have played every week but he was a 10 out of 10 on and off the pitch, bringing calm to the ground and having everyone's admiration. And Xabi … players like Xabi are very rare. He was the team's engine and you know that when you change an engine, it takes time to work again.

Torres on Liverpool's downfall in the 2009-2010 season

Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Real Madrid Castilla 2003-2004 Spain 2 29 1 29 1
Real Madrid 2004-2005 Spain 1 2 0 2 0
Real Madrid Castilla 2004-2005 Spain 2 28 1 28 1
Real Madrid Castilla 2005-2006 Spain 2 34 0 34 0
Deportivo 2006-2007 Spain 1 20 0 20 0
Real Madrid 2009-2010 Spain 1 30 2 38 2
Real Madrid 2010-2011 Spain 1 26 0 43 1
Real Madrid 2011-2012 Spain 1 26 0 38 0
Real Madrid 2012-2013 Spain 1 25 0 40 0
Real Madrid 2014-2015 Spain 1 18 0 30 1
Real Madrid 2014-2015 Spain 1 22 1 35 2
Real Madrid 2015-2016 Spain 1 6 0 9 0
West Ham United 2016-2017 Premier League 3 0 4 0
Total 269 5 350 8