Charlie Nicholas gives his opinion on Freddie Ljungberg managerial debut.
Arsenal may have gotten rid of Unai Emery but nothing has changed, that is the verdict of Charlie Nicholas after he was left baffled by Freddie Ljungberg’s team selection against Norwich.
Ljungberg was given temporary charge of the Gunners last week after they fired Unai Emery and his first game was against Norwich.
The Swede chose a defensive partnership of David Luiz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi, to the amazement of Nicholas.
The defense has been Arsenal’s biggest problem this season and it came back to haunt them again at the weekend as they conceded two goals to share the spoils.
Nicholas wonders why Ljungberg would start his reign with divisive players including Granit Xhaka in his first starting IX.
“They had a bit more spike about them at the weekend but Freddie, why are you picking Shkodran Mustafi?” former Arsenal striker Nicholas told Sky Sports as cited by Goal.com.
“When are you going to learn about Calum Chambers? I also cannot understand how David Luiz is in the team. He just doesn’t want to run. He is only interested when he gets the ball at his feet.
“Sokratis Papastathopoulos is a shocker and Mustafi is even worse. Granit Xhaka also cannot run.
“It is such a huge mess. I honestly thought Freddie would not be close to getting the job, but now, I do not know how long he will have in charge. In the end, it may not be their No.1 target who they end up getting.
“Regarding Freddie’s selection, what have you done there that was different to Unai Emery? I didn’t get it. It might be his first pick, but could also be who he has got fit.
“Bringing in Joe Willock I understood, but the re-introduction of Xhaka baffled me. Mesut Ozil wanted the ball and wanted to get into the pockets of space, he was decent again. There is an enthusiasm about Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
“This is about Arsenal getting back on the winning trail and trying to threaten the top six, and potentially the top four. They need to ramp up the action. The manager has gone and they need results and a winning formula.”
Arsenal takes on Brighton Thursday evening and the fans will be hoping that Ljungberg puts out a better team this time and finally get three points on the board.