The news that got me marveled this morning is the story trending on the internet about Andries Jonker, a former Arsenal coach, asking the board to show guts by signing Ljungberg on a permanent basis. Is it not rather too early to be talking about signing Freddie on a long term basis? Why the rush to sign a coach who has not overseen more than just a game for Arsenal so far?
According to skysports.com, Jonker believes the board should sign Freddie because he would prefer for them to give the chance to someone who knows Arsenal, knows the academy, knows all those talented players, and who also knows the laws of total football.
Well said Jonker, but football does not really work like that again, these days. A lot of former Arsenal players who are coaches, know the academy, know all those talented players, and also know the laws of total football; but where are they today? With all the knowledge a certain former Arsenal player and legend has, he flopped at Monaco the last time he was giving a chance to coach a big club. Does knowing total football qualify you to being a good coach? No, it doesn’t, sir.
“Give him time, give him confidence, help him and support him. He is one of Arsenal. I would appreciate the guts of the Arsenal bosses if they hired Ljungberg.” Jonker said. I totally agree with Jonker on this one; Ljungberg needs time, he needs confidence and he needs support! But the club will not be helping him by hiring him on a permanent basis. Even if the club were to hire him on a permanent basis, they should do that after he has proven himself in many games, and not just after one game. Freddie is still a toddler in the world of coaching, and it may do him a lot of good to either remain an assistant coach to a world class coach for a period of time, or he goes to coach a football team with lesser pressures and expectations.
I am of the opinion that Freddie and Per will restore some pride to Arsenal but not as permanent coaches. They should be allowed to steer the team on a slow but steady process and see how far they go; they should be allowed to be tutored by a more experienced coach. Arsenal is in a very difficult period and what we really need is a young coach who knows how to grind results from a bunch of talented players who are low on confidence. We need to fast-track our search for a coach and save Freddie the disaster that may affect his young coaching confidence. That it worked with Man United and Chelsea, does not mean giving the job to a former Arsenal player, will work for us…
Sylvester (Lagos Gooner)