Freddie Ljungberg reveals restriction placed on him by Arsenal.
Freddie Ljungberg does not have the same level of backroom support that Unai Emery enjoyed when the Spaniard was the manager.
Ljungberg has managed one win from his first four games but he has led the side to two unbeaten games ahead of their hosting of Manchester City.
Ljungberg has been assisted by Per Mertasecker since he became the first team manager and he has revealed that the club hasn’t permitted him to bring in his own backroom staff.
Arsenal are hoping to name a new permanent manager soon and many fans thought that Ljungberg was in the running for the position, but his latest admission appears to show that the club doesn’t intend to keep him in the hot seat for long.
He claims that Arsenal has asked him to hold off with plans of getting additional help until they make a decision which could take some time.
“That’s up to the club,” he replied when asked if he had made any decisions regarding backroom staff.
“The club have said I have to wait until they make a decision, so yeah, I can’t do anything at the moment. I have Per but at the same time he is academy manager but he is helping me with the coaching.
“The club has said when they make a decision then that’s it or I’m obviously leaving or maybe then we can do something with the staff. But it’s up to the club.
“If you look at the person who was here before, he had a lot of staff and maybe I don’t have so many. So if you keep on going like that for months and months, it’s not so easy. But that’s totally up to the club.”
It has to be said that this is quite ominous for the Swede. If there was any intention of the club even considering Freddie they would have surely given him as much help as he requests.
It is understandable why the board are holding fire on new appointments, especially if they have to let them go in the event they opt against hiring Ljungberg full time.
That said, it is a shame for Freddie that he is not been given this opportunity on a level playing field.
Another built-in excuse…this certainly doesn’t explain his poor tactical and selection decisions…we need to hire a proper manager before he’s allowed to get too comfortable in the seat he’s supposedly keeping warm
Some more penny-pinching from the board. They never wanted him to take the job full time. That is clear. This is like tying one hand behind and asking him to win a duel with Anthony Joshua.
He should do his best and leave the rest. Chances are that he will not have to stay in that situation for too long. But it is very unfair on him to expect that he will deliver when he is clearly distracted by too much work. The need for additional back room staff is not a luxury and our board are not showing that they care enough about what results come from this phase of the campaign before a permanent coach comes in. What if we get beaten so many times and the new coach come in to meet a relegation-bound team?
These a re truly ominous signs and Freddie needs to just do his best with what he has. He can’t do better than his best, can he?
Maybe some former stars of the club might come in to help in one way or another, free of charge. But that is if the club allows it.
Shame.
Read the statement credited to FL and was wondering if that’s what all interim managers have to go thru?…
I ve always wondered why he accepted the job shrouded with uncertainties , inheriting a completely below par team in terms of personnel and and the possibility of being judged as a poor coach when the truth is he has got it in him to be a great coach…it’s really a pity how our dear club is being managed
But to be fair Freddie has enormous advantages over Unai.
He played for the club for nine years.
He knows the Premier League as a player for 10 years (One season at West Ham)
He knows London and the culture.
Emery never played in the Premier League. Never lived in London.
Freddie is a fluent English speaker. Emery had no English when he took over.
Freddie coached the U23 all last season. Was close to the senior squad.
He has been senior team assistant all this season so knows all the players.
He would like his own players but Emery had no choice of players either.
So really Freddie has massive advantages over Unai.
The disadvantage is that he has a very short window of opportunity
which appears to be the first time you lose bad you are gone.
The fact that Freddie starts with a horror next 12 PL games
makes his chance of survival slim.
Mind you Emery was told in August this season that top 4 was a minimum requirement.
So despite Unai’s great effort last season he was told top for or sack
But the league is much tougher now Sheff in 5th Bournmouth just beat Chelsea
Norwich just drew at 2nd place Leicester Spurs and Man U outside top 4.
Its a top ten now.
Top 4 with a defense like ours is a ridiculous expectation.
It’s like managers are being set up to fail.
If the club is consistent they must keep the same expectations for all managers.
So if they do appoint a new manager they should demand top 4 by May
but with out any new defensive reinforcements in January.
See how he gets on with the same team as Unai and Feddie had to manage.
He’s the stand in coach so they are not really going to let him appoint a team of backroom staff are they?
His remit is to coach the team while the club look and possibly appoint a permanent coach. At the end of the day it could be Freddie but they are hardly going to give him staff now when he could be replaced next week or at the end of the season.
They have screwed the club already with giving Emery the job so hopefully are thinking about it a little deeper this time.
It is obvious, even to a blind person, that the club never had any intention of letting Freddie stay any longer than it takes to choose the new manager. I always knew this and said so. The club are not going to and never were going to give this job to a novice. Consequently he is merely holding the fort for a very short time, as long as it takes to choose the right man. It never was Freddie and anyone who thought it ever could be is not thinking right.
Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.
If managers can be sacked then those who appoint managers should be sacked also.
Those responsible for hiring Emery and player recruitment should face the ax.
Whats good for Emery or Ljungberg is good for Venkatesham and Sanllehi.
I agree 100% with your comment. Raul, Edu, and Vinai choose the players, chose Pepe over CB’s, and should be held accountable.
My concern is what kind of manager will come in and be content with very little power or control?
We have a “coach” now, not a proper “manager.” If Sven was shut out, what chance does a new “coach” have?
Love to know who Emery wanted, and who he actually got.
@Durand
I pointed this out a while back. Emery never got any of the players he wanted. Theres an article out there on 442 or another site of the players he requested. There are too many administrators and no one knows what’s going on and how to manage the club. AW said the club is becoming unhuman, and going from a personnel of 80 to 750…Too many chiefs and no Indians.
It will be hard to give him more support on a temporary basis by the club. The point is this club need to sort out the long term successor to Emery quick because it is all not ideal to keep this going on too long. Freddie knew the situation and he knew he was in temporary control. The club need to make sure that this doesn’t carry on too long because its unsustainable.