The new temporary era of Freddie Ljungberg starts today and I have to be absolutely honest… I am VERY excited.
He’s making smart moves, Per Mertesacker is his assistant, he might be bringing Gilberto in for a helping hand, and he told the Arsenal.com team he was all about putting smiles back on the faces of players.
Freddie has gone on the record as saying he thinks players are happier when they’re playing exciting football, we know he was raised on some of most explosive attacking football the world has ever seen, so maybe we’re about to witness Wengerball 2.0.
He has the opportunity to make a claim for the job, to do well, he’s going to have thread the needle of some very tricky situations with the players and the football. Here are some items he’ll be looking to clarify.
The Xhaka thing:
There will be a blank slate for Granit Xhaka. It’ll be very interesting to see how a man with a more attacking vision sees the Swiss. A lot of the ‘he’s highly rated from within’ leaves me aghast. It doesn’t make sense that a player with so little discipline and so many errors in his game could be seen as this absolute essential to the team… but I guess we’ll find out. If he’s in the side, what is he doing and how are they going to protect the team against his bad habits?
Pressing:
Freddie likes high octane pressing. So did Wenger and Emery. No one can keep it going for longer than 3 games. How will Freddie discipline the team to press consistently, or at least in strategic moments during the game? There are big question marks as to whether his first-team forwards are even capable of this. Is Auba going to turn into that sort of player at 29? Does Lacazette have the stamina to do that? Or might the coach pull a wild card and start his younger players. He’s far more likely to get the sort of behaviour he wants our of Saka and Martinelli.
Pepe:
Our very one-footed wide man has looked pretty poor most of the season. It’s hard to move into a tough situation and perform and he certainly hasn’t managed to raise his game. He looks shot of all confidence, but maybe a new coach with a more exciting vision could spark something in him that we haven’t seen yet. He’s certainly not a bad player. If Conte could get Victor Moses firing, then there is hope for Pepe.
Transitions:
Our short game from the keeper has been slow, ineffective and quite frankly embarrassing. We struggle to transition out of defence most of the time, then if the ball makes into midfield, the gaps between the attack are monstrous. Freddie is going to have to get in the weeds with some real basics here, because we don’t move the ball through the phases with any sort of consistency. How is Freddie going to look at this problem, will he go more direct? Will he shorten the passing lanes? Will he bin the short passes out the back? I’m very interested to see how quickly he can impact the way we move the ball. I’m also hoping that we start playing through the middle again with some exciting one-touch combination passing.
The same in reverse. We often have no real shape when we’re hit on the counter-attack or even just under sustained pressure. Midfield is our biggest problem, the two deepest players, whoever they are, offer very little protection to the defence, either by taking up positions that are too deep, or just not being present in the right places. We do not defend as a unit, it’s a lot to expect in a few games, but it’d be nice to see some thinking go into action there.
It’s not really worth hitting you with the management stuff because it’s all very early stages, but I think one thing is clear from listening to Josh K, they will be overjoyed if Freddie can take things until the end of the season. Better choices will be on the market then and Edu, Huss, Raul and Vinnai can take their time over a decision.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, there really is no plan on the manager and we’re accruing a shortlist now because no one was thinking about exiting Emery this season. A staggering oversight when you consider that a proper club would have booted Emery in the summer. The football was quite clearly going nowhere, all the data pointed to total regression, and behind the scenes things were just as dire. Zero control. The bus driver running team motivation talks perfectly captured the managers’ approach. My point here, even if you truly believed in miracles, you’d at least get a backup list of names just in case.
The more worrying point for me about the shortlist that’s emerging is there’s no rhyme or reason to the candidates that we’re looking at. Nuno is a counter-attacking specialist that doesn’t believe in pointless possession. Allegri is the ultimate ‘get the job done’ pragmatist that builds systems around the tools he has at his disposal. Brendan Rodgers is a high pressing possession-based practitioner. Arteta will be Manchester City like entertaining possession-based attacking football. There’s no theme here, which likely means Edu doesn’t have a plan that he’s executing against.
If the club doesn’t know what it wants to be, how are they judging candidates? Your strategy can’t be a manager, because if that’s the case, your costs are huge every time you hire in a new philosophy. Chelsea, up until lately, always had deeply pragmatic managers that played a certain way. AVB, Conte, Mourinho are all cut from the same cloth. Barcelona always hire in specialists in of attacking based possession football because that’s their DNA, but beyond that, those values Cruyff instilled give the club stability. Every layer of the club believes the same thing. Every coach plays the same way. The scouting network knows what they are looking for. The fitness coaches know how to plan.
There’s a lot of talk about The Arsenal Way and whether that exists. It doesn’t. Edu is supposed to define what that is so we can build out talent that maps to the vision. My view is we should be a youthful execution of high octane pressing and intelligent possession-based football. We should be the most exciting team to watch in the world. We will never compete at the higher levels for elite adult talent, so we’ll have to grow it, or attract players like Martinelli and Guendouzi and ask them to give the first part of their careers to Arsenal. Young players need minutes and elite coaching. If we set a clear vision, it’d give clear parameters on the type of coach we need. It wouldn also focus what you’re looking for.
- Someone open to a longer-term project
- A manager happy to work on a budget
- Someone who can work with data analysts and support staff
- A person that can galvanise, not divide a backroom and a squad
- A clear communicator
- Someone that loves coaching
- Has a clear-eyed vision of where the game is going and how to keep up
- Someone with patience, because they’d be working with younger kids
- Someone with examples of how they’ve developed players
- A vision of how to implement a pressing regime
- A view of football that’s exciting
It would dictate the sort of fitness approach we’d need, it’d give the scouts a very clear brief for who and where they should be looking for talent, and it’d be a clear message to the fans… this project is not for now, we are building out Arsenal to be a Champions League final four outfit in 5 years. Bear with us, this is going to be spectacular.
The ‘cast the net wide’ and see what we like approach isn’t purposeful. When you don’t know what you’re looking for, you can be easily seduced by cheap Powerpoint presentations, great Wikipedia pages, and the sweet charms of Raul who can definitely vouch. We are better than that. I hope as the club push on in this process they get a little more specific about what they want, because a warm body won’t cut it. Not for the next hire.
One managerial story that I do find amusing is the Brendan Rodgers one. We all know he’d be desperate to move to a top club again. He’s doing a great job at Leicester, a club I feel is his level… but my point of raising this particular story is that he’s on the back page of one of the red tops with a headline alluding to Arsenal being his dream job. That is poor judgement to let anyone go off the record for you in such a blatant way. I wonder if that’ll impact the focus of his players, it looks very much like the mistake Marco Silva made when he was desperate for the Everton job despite being under contract at Watford. Didn’t end well there. Confidence is fragile at a football club, if the players think you’re purring over another job, things can go south very quickly.
Anyway, a huge day for Freddie, Per Mertesacker and the fans. I cannot wait to see what the sexiest man in management has to offer us.
Right, jump into our podcast before the game, it’s a cracker. We talk about Raul, managers, problems with Emery and our favourite targets. You can bypass the cost by giving it a 5* in iTunes.
See you in the comments!
Nasty challenge there.
I can’t be the only one who sees Lacazette constantly half ass it these days.
Laca doesn’t want to play football.
Aubameyang and Ozil don’t defend.
That was nasty…. ankle breaker.
Freddie needs lego man wig.
Also, Laca doesn’t have his shooting boot on.
if we get 70m for auba this Jan I’d be ecstatic.
MarcDecember 1, 2019 14:42:32
UnYeah I mean there are no other PL players who have flash cars or silly haircuts are there.
Marc
He’s lazy
He doesn’t work hard and he’s not good enough to justify his laziness for me. He offers nothing on the ball. Very little off the ball, nothing with back to goal. He’s 30 and he’s worth £60m minimum.
And I don’t like his social media digs either.
He’s been treated like royalty by everyone at arsenal inc emery.
Lacazette is better for me. Does more for the team. Makes us better
“Get Laca out!! He’s stinking up the pitch”
Victorious
Can’t blame Emery for this…
Un na naai
“Willock is the man”
Apart from when he lost the ball and possession that led to their breakaway goal.
Other than that he’s done decent enough yeah.
Been an encouraging half.
Unlucky to concede the goal and go behind, deservedly level. Will be interesting to see what changes Freddie makes in search of a win.
Pepe likely to get a run I fancy, in place of Laca.
Midfield
Midfield
Midfield
Another easy goal.
Xhaka way behind his man
ahaha yep should’ve shut up shop
over to you GoH for the halftime drivel
What the fuck!!
I know it’s still early days but same old same old.
Azed
Freddie has bottled the selection and don’t deserve to coach our next game
Slow fuckers on defense never work. BFG should know this..
Mustafi as usual positions himself to act as the perfect guide for the opposition to curl around him.
Our defenders should all be replaced.
Emery out!
Oh my fucking days I’m done for the afternoon. Twice I’ve called encouragement and we’ve conceded.
Fuck right off. Great finish.
More backing off
Laca made 3 backpasses before Guen got hurt. Totally rubbish.
With Laca and Kolac on the left wing should turnaround and run at Norwich ffs.
That’s 3 times this half Norwich have had no CDM to worry about and have fronted up our CBs unchallenged.
Twice they scored in that situation.
Lol, the defenders need to be sacked. All of them
oh for fucks sake
This team does not have the mettle to survive a relegation battle
I just hope we don’t get sucked into the relegation vortex.
Xhaka and Mustafi must be garrotted on the Emirates pitch before kick off on Thursday as a sacrifice to the football Gods.
Again same old same old. Chambers caught out of position and Xhaka nowhere to be found when an opposition midfielder picks up a ball on the edge of our box and scores. Agendas and all that but when you don’t play with proper fullbacks and no holding midfielder it happens constantly.
So weak defensively.
Chambers running on limited air bless him.
Lolz. That’s all.
We are an incredibly shit but expensively assembled team. We are not better than this shower from fucking inbred Norfolk. A team probably on less than Ozil a week.
By the way…where is Ozil?
Xakha lost his man there
He was just jogging back
Didn’t put the burners on until it was too late
Wank
I don’t know how much more people at the club need to see before they realise this midfield needs ripping out and we need to spend there.
I would get Lacazette off as well and think about Pepe or Martinelli.
Aubameyang was having great success at RW so Pepe might do as well.
£1 Shop Players.
Chambers 2 bob.
As I said yesterday you cannot make a nice meal with poor ingredients.?
Martinelli, saka and Pepe on second half. Ozil, laca and auba off.
Shoot xhaka and mustafi in the kneecaps after the game.
“This team does not have the mettle to survive a relegation battle
I just hope we don’t get sucked into the relegation vortex.“
😂🤦🏻♂️
Chambers gets caught out of position quite a lot.
I like his effort but he is flawed no doubt.
Take Ozil out and bring in Pepe.
You’d think Ozil will be keen to show it was a mistake not being played by Emery.
‘He was just jogging back’
No that’s him sprinting.
That’s the problem…or part of it anyway.
Why do we let them run at us like that – every time they do it they look dangerous – 3 passes and they’re on the edge of our box
Xhaka isn’t right for this team. It’s like no manager or coach realizes that you need a defensive midfield that can actually shield the defenders.
Norfolk inbreeds 😅
Charles I don’t see how that’s been an encouraging half even if we went in level. Passing still very much aimless, no combination play. Norwich have seen far less of the ball but when they do you see a purpose in their play.
The selection was wrong, should have started with wingers.
Tough game so far. We’ve showed a lot of good new things. And a lot of old bad ones. We are fighting though. It’s all I can ask for at the moment.
Lovely touch from Aubameyang there
Lacazette should have been reading it
I fucking despise this shit. We should never have hired emery
We are worse now than ever.
Still we look far more positive going forward than at any time in the last 12 months in the premier league. What we really need is someone to work with this defence. Some serious coaching
If you are not going to pick the right team, you are unlikely to get a good result. Mustafi at center back is suicidal.
Martinelli and Pépé for Guendouzi and Lacazette please.
Freddie reopened the Emery can of worms. He should have left it where is was when he came on board.
A player who openly laughs with the opposition after a shitty performance in a home game shouldn’t get selected for a while.
I think all the pundits have called it that the management fucked it up by not getting in solid center backs. Amazing that Mustafi wasn’t gotten rid off and that Luiz is the best we could do .
As I said before, with this lineup I’d be amazed if we got anything from this game and that still stands.
This team needs some serious coaching. Not Freddie’s fault he is inheriting years of neglect but I don’t think he is the right man to rebuild the team to be honest.
It was always going to be a short stint anyway. We need someone with more experience to fix this. The defence was left with no cover for both goals.
It’s not good just thinking about attack changes, when Norwich break there is no CDM for them to worry about. Xhaka might as well be coming from Ipswich he takes so long to get back.
We either need to put Torreira on at CDM or bring a CB on and push Luiz to CDM.
If Torreira isn’t trusted by Ljungberg as well as Emery then we need to sell him in January and fund a move for a suitable CDM.
Very disappointing that Ljungberg went straight for Xhaka at CDM.
Puki’s goal was actually 1 vs 5
My apologies , I thought it was 1 vs 4 initially
By the way…where is Ozil?
Maybe another manager will unlock his potential….
Give it a rest some of you. Two days with the team, some issues cannot be fixed overnight with the shit defenders we have.
We have looked encouraging. The set is note attack minded. Getting people in the box.
It’s just individual mistakes.
Freddie did go for a safe set up. But as most of you know, it’s either to see what they have for him or if they will be dropped again. Everyone gets a clean start under him.
Xhaka lack mobility we all know that.
Defence is poor but the real problem is our midfield. It’s like a seive.
Get Özil off and bring on torrera.
Chambers is no good in offense and defense. Both Mustafi and Luiz don’t challenge the opponents with the ball. Only Kola looks OK.
I hope whoever at StatDNA came up with the analysis that the club’s defence would be best improved by spending big on the attack to reduce pressure, rather than investing in a quality defender(s), loses their job. Same for those at the top of the recruitment hierarchy who bought into that nonsense.
Pukkis goal was the result of 2 forward passes by Norwich ffs
Albert Einstein: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
As it was when Arsene was there and Emery and now Freddy.
These players are terrible. Simply terrible. They have basically cost two managers their jobs.
We’re one Martin Keown away from defending as a unit, right?
I’d like to know how many minutes Mustafi/Chambers would get in a Pep/Klopp side.
£50m combined transfer fees well spent.
Mustafi has no idea to close a shot down.
You don’t see defenders (even mid field ) back off like this in Sunday league or school games ffs.
That’s fucking open invitation to shoot and shot they did.
Btw where were our shots??
Cesc
It raises a serious question of why do managers not fancy Torreira? When he came into the team at the beginning of last season he looked pretty good now he can’t get near the team when Xhaka’s getting a start.
It beggars belief.
PieAFC
“Give it a rest some of you. Two days with the team, some issues cannot be fixed overnight with the shit defenders we have.”
Not so fast
Freddie has been part of this set-up for months.He doesn’t get to use that excuse
Tr7
Come on. Luiz is hardly any better. If he’s not diving in he’s backing off.
Look, defenders don’t defend like they used to. They need to be Instagram ready. No way is a modern day defender putting their body and face on the line.
Moneyz boyyyy.
Guns
“These players are terrible. Simply terrible. They have basically cost two managers their jobs.”
Well as most of the players were bought by Wenger then you can’t give him a pass on them not being very good.
Well Arsenal are trailing to a completely average Norwich. Yet more goals steaming into the net from the opposition. The match actually started pretty well and for the first 25 mins or so Arsenal’s passing was crisper than previous matches their looked to be more bounce to the players and they looked like they were trying to stamp themselves on the match. Next 20 minutes though not so good. Back t being a bit drab. Their first goal Willock loses possession when on the ball too easily and they break and Pukki loses his supposed marker David Luiz too easily.… Read more »
How has it got this bad???
Norwich should be a walk in the park for AFC
Tierney, Martinelli, Pepe, Holding, Torreira is an exciting prospect as a young team where are they all?
Not one of starting XI today is good enough
Ozil never sprints! Willock constantly gives possession away! Xhaka is shit at everything! Mustafi is a liability! Chambers is a championship player at best! Laca & Auba seem to not give a shit
When was last time Arsenal scored a quick incisive break away goal like Norwich just did?
We are f**ked
“ Not so fast
Freddie has been part of this set-up for months.He doesn’t get to use that excuse”
Yep – at the very least he’s seen it with his own eyes – he’s not a manager coming in from abroad who hasn’t been made aware of our shortcomings
Pie, Freddie has sat there idly all season and watched Emery struggle. He gets his chance and puts his faith in the same players who let his predecessor down. He is just as culpable.
Petit who is like GOH by the way, doesn’t seem so far off now does he in what he said.
Marc
Come on!
It’s a 50/50 split between Emery and Wenger’s players and they are all terrible.
Look. We are a bad footballing side. Let’s just accept it.
Chambers won’t get used even in Leeds. Don’t forget he was a Wenger but, just like Xhaka.
Roll on January
Shown again, 2ce Mustafi failed to close the shot from being taken. He first instinct is “I should fall to the ground like a log”
Said it 3 years ago and stands valid even today – Xhaka and Mustafi should be the untouchables for any manager. Anyone who puts his faith in them is doomed to fail.
I mean kudos to Freddie for not looking like Emery out there but fucks sake making things look like Wenger never left isn’t going to get him the gig.
I have always hated luiz
This is gonna be a long term fix at best
Chambers won’t get used even in Leeds. Don’t forget he was a Wenger but, just like Xhaka.
Yet they are used by new coaches.
Dissenter
He has but not the final say.
2 wins in 11 games in the PL. shocking stat.
We’re on a serious decline.
Midfield is the biggest problem, you can get away with defenders like senderos, djourou, squillaci, if the midfield is good.
They must have told Mustafi not to dive in. Now he is over doing it. He is backing away from the attacker. He should have challenged the attackers for both goals.
I have always pointed out that a man who was promoted to assist the coach and failed to do so should never be seen as the answer until he shows he is. Graham disagreed.
Pukki wasn’t Mustafi’s man when he made his initial run that gave him the time to make the shot on goal.
He was David Luiz’s man and Pukki lost him easily.
The damage is done once a player has such time and space to hit the shot on goal.
Enough players now hit goals from this distance. You have to be tight on them in the first instance.
Receding I’ve liked the increase tempo of our play and the desire to get forward and take it to the opponent vs our laboured approach of late. I’m taking micro-analysis here, Freddie (who has been part of the staff just canned) has had 36 hours to affect any change. If anyone seriously thinks we were about to take-off after such they’re unbelievably dense, or working an angle. Emery was still trying to muddle through Wengers mess just a week ago I was reading, now Freddie should have us purring because he’s taken a training session on his own and sat… Read more »
Xhaka had a chance to shoot and would have probably scored……..he didn’t. Chambers had a chance to shoot….he didn’t…………. Kolasinac had a chance…..he too didn’t. David Luiz is poor and very poor, to say the least. He should not start the next match.
PieAFC
Give it a rest some of you. Two days with the team, some issues cannot be fixed overnight with the shit defenders we have.
Two words… Team. Selection.
Hoping Fred is saying, right defence you have game to prove to me… or in come champ gets
Holding maravonoupous n medley at the back.
Shot to watch as usual really.
The defenders are terrible, the midfield is not fit for purpose.
Marc Maybe he’s too small, too slow, his stamina isn’t good enough? Not sure. But this why this hipster, stat signing stuff that Pedro likes is risky becuase he was bought using Mislintat’s stat ananlysis which suggested he was comparable to Kante. But Kante is playing in the EPL and is far faster with elite stamina, Torreira is a 5ft 4 player in Serie A nowhere near as quick and with average at best stamina. If he doesn’t suit the EPL then sell him to fund the purchase for a more suitable CDM. People ragging on the defence are missing… Read more »
I think Arsenal thought nostalgia would get us the win. Freddy is class. Love the guy but he’s already losing this battle.
He could have played the kids in this game and made himself a hero but he decided to play it safe and now look what’s happened.
We are £500m away from being contenders.
As long as luiz plays were shit
FFS some of you must be brain-dead. He has had two days with the team. Forget him being Emrys second. He never was that. Emry brought his own team with him and Freddie was brought in to help the young players that came from the academy.
It just goes to show that vast world of difference between a manager and an assistant manager. Freddie gets a change and so far he is bottling it already.
I’m writing specifically about Arteta.
It’s crazy hiring a manager with no record to assess to take over a very difficult situation we find ourselves in.
You never know what you get with these assistants. Gazidis was right to block Arteta two years ago and Raul will be wise to avoid him.
We really do have some bang average defenders, and that’s being kind.
Big half but I think we will turn it around as long as our defenders can recall how to actually defend.
Two days is long enough to know that Xhaka, Luiz, Ozil and Kola isn’t a winning side. Freddy hasn’t just come in from Mars you know. He actually sees these players every day and still thought that Xhaka et all were good enough!!!
Mental.
Tierney aside none of our defence would get into the match day squad of city and pool sadly.
Chambers can’t run.
Mustard can’t defend. Xhara saves his ass just before we conceded the second
Luiz does want to be a defender.
Kolac wants to be a defender
We transitioned the ball quicker but generally lacks quality once it got close the the last third.