Freddie Ljungberg says Arsenal’s home support will be energised if they like what they see on the pitch.
Having not won a home Premier League game in nearly two months, it’s fair to say the atmosphere at the Emirates hasn’t exactly been pumping. Frustration on the terraces reached a boiling point during the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace as fans targeted Granit Xhaka.
Since then attendances have been dwindling. Granted, there were mitigating factors last Thursday, but the sight of the Emirates two-thirds empty made for a depressing backdrop for Unai Emery’s final game in charge.
Ahead of Thursday’s game with Brighton, Ljungberg was asked how he plans to boost morale.
“I think the only way to change an atmosphere in the stadium is by how you play,” he said.
“Like you said, the fans were amazing at Norwich. I felt like they got more and more energy the more that we played in the first half.
“We were on top of Norwich and I think the Arsenal fans got energy from that. That helped. But they were great, even when we went 1-0 down or 2-1 down, they were even louder and they helped us. That’s important for the players.
“When it comes to the Emirates, the fans want us to win football games. They want us to play good football and I think the only way to try to get a good atmosphere and get them going is to try to achieve that. Whether that’s me or someone else as a coach, I don’t think that matters so much.”
Having only had four and a half days as head coach, Freddie obviously has his work cut out reversing the wrongs of the Emery regime. He maintains there’s no point dwelling on the past or his side’s poor form.
“What I try to focus on is going forward,” he said. “I’ve been here, I’ve done two training sessions now and I don’t want to talk about the coaches before. I think Unai did a great job and was a great leader, and a fantastic coach. That’s not for me to judge.
“I look forward. The main thing for me was that when we were at Norwich, we hadn’t won an away game since the first game of the season. I felt that the players could react that way and in my opinion, we played well offensively. It was good. But now we go forward.”
Good plan, I applaud him.
Is that a good start?
“The Gang Doesn’t Improve the Atmosphere”
I actually really like the way Freddie talks, and explains. If Emery was a bit of a wall (partially because of obvious language barrier, but also because you got the feeling he ducked questions a little sometimes), Freddie almost seems to be talking through his own thought process as a manager, what he sees from game to game and what he wants to change. Its refreshing. Maybe because he is only a ‘caretaker’ he feels a bit more free to discuss it than he would if he was the new permanent manager who is meant to know everything already. Anyway,… Read more »
*Thursday, stupid weird fixtures.
Very well said!
i know times have been rough, to say the least, and fans are rightly frustrated but let’s try to be patient before we judge Freddie. at least give him a couple of months before judging him one way or the other. right now is the time to get behind both him and the team and help the players rebuild the confidence that they’re sorely lacking. part of rebuilding confidence should come from the individual themselves, part of it is should come from the coaching staff, and part of it should come from the fans. as true fans, let’s play our… Read more »
What the Emirates needs is that one goal, that’s so good that the opposition are beaten the moment it’s scored. Like OG’s scorpion, lightning fast counter attacks and one touch football
Would be great, though scoring one or even two goals hasn’t been enough recently.
Random thought popped up in my head, but I feel like people under appreciated Elneny. At this point where our midfield can’t keep possession of the ball and has absolutely no shape or ability to shut people down, we could probably do quite well with re-calling him.
Not sure if people remember but him and Xhaka was actually one of our better partnerships in recent average years. Would rather him than Guendozi at this point, perhaps Elneny and Torreira would provide enough protection for our fragile defence. He’s only on Loan so being re-called not out of the question..
Elneny’s tearing it up on loan, same as Mkhi!
We have to beat Brighton. That’s all that’s needed at this point.
A clean sheet would be an added bonus.
It has to be said if it were Norwich or Southampton with no wins in eight games it would be considered relegation form…
We desperately need wins because this Arsenal side is not very good…
No shit.
Is it not a nice change to hear that the team needs to improve the atmosphere, rather than blaming the fans for their helpful “noise”? Sure, it might seem obvious, but our recent history hasn’t been in favour of the obvious. If Freddie is pointing out what should be clear then at least we aren’t going down the Baldrick “that’s what they’ll be expecting us to do” route. We have a decent squad, not title winning really, but way better than mid table. If we can do the basic and obvious parts of football, with some good motivation and spirit,… Read more »
Nope, I blame the stupid fans. If our fans were more like Liverpool’s, or those of some lower league sides, we’d have won the league at least in 2015/16.
Get rid of AFTV and it would help also
What have they said on there that you havent said on here.
“Blud”
“Fam”
That’s the best point made on this site in a very long time!
Let’s get banners to the stadium: “AFTV out”, “Robbie Lyle, you don’t represent us”
Nothing better than winning. Its a fickle game. Start racking up the wins again because we have some big match ups coming at end of month with City, United etc. But lets stay positive and we can get results. Basics need to be addressed: 1)Up the tempo and effort from the players. Pepe needs to step up. He is doing somethings right but general body language not good. He needs to put more effort off ball and it will translate to his offensive game. 2)Plus everyone needs to back up each other, stay more compact during defensive phases but not… Read more »
Ljungberg: “Emirates atmosphere will improve with wins.”
No shit, Sherlock! ?
I wish I could downvote you a couple more times for that comment!
Chances of winning would improve with a great atmosphere. I absolutely love Freddie, but let’s not make excuses for these pathetic and entitled “supporters”, who have relinquished home advantage and cost us many matches and titles in the last few years. Why should supporters demand results, when they themselves don’t play their part in the team? Why should supporters expect the players to fight till the end, when they themselves don’t even stay in the stadium till the end?
I had almost forgotten what common sense sounded like.
Thank you, Freddie!