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Ex-Gunner Watch

Is it wrong to still love Giroud

  • Yes he’s no longer a gooner

  • No he will always be a top man

Results are only viewable after voting.
BobP

BobP

Memri Fan
Not exactly an 'ex-gunner' since he's currently the head coach of of the U23s but thought this was the best place for this wonderfully written article.

https://www.tifofootball.com/features/freddie-ljungberg-connoisseur-arsenal-counter-attack/

Berlin is famous for many things, and one of them is the late-night conversation in the smoky and crowded bar that suddenly turns profound. And so it was last week when, pint glasses clutched fiercely to our chests, a friend and I discussed the brilliance of Freddie Ljungberg. I don’t remember exactly how he came up in conversation, only that we arrived at the subject of the Swedish midfielder after a day where our local amateur side, SFC Friedrichshain Internazionale, had just gone six points clear at the top of the league with a 7-1 win. Ljungberg, I think, was being held up as an example of exceptional movement off the ball, a standard which one of our forwards had presumably and briefly reached. Who knows – the night has long since vanished, as Berlin nights do, into a familiarly blissful haze. All I know for sure is that Swedes, with the exception of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, are generally and strangely underrated when it comes to football. (Let’s not forget that Zlatan effectively had to become his own PR agency in order for the world to take notice.) And so Henrik Larsson still does not get quite the credit he deserves, and neither does Ljungberg.

Whilst Larsson was world-class across the board, Ljungberg reached an elite level in just one respect: the runs he made in the final third. Movement is something you can learn, that’s true. But the very best footballers have an instinct for it, just as a chef knows just how many herbs to add to that sauce, or a golfer knows just how much fade to put on that iron. And when it came to movement, Ljungberg was a master; the professor of the penalty-box, a connoisseur of the counter-attack.

This wasn’t so notable at first. When he joined Arsenal, Ljungberg was initially memorable for his neon haircuts, the sort you might see sported by a coachload of teenagers on a school trip. The Swede didn’t really stand out for much else. He had an extraordinary work ethic, but that was par for the course for a Premier League winger, if indeed that’s truly what he was. (I now have my suspicions, as it turns out; I think he was a second striker loitering on the touchline, a jewel thief lurking at the edge of the street just before closing time.) His goal tally for his first two full seasons was unremarkable – he scored at the rate of fewer than one every five games for the Gunners – but, in the 2001/02 campaign, he exploded.

Ljungberg netted 17 times in 39 games, playing the eager assassin to Dennis Bergkamp’s diligent architect. Time and again he would arrive just as the Dutchman appeared to have played the ball aimlessly into space – and the centre backs would turn in horror, since they knew in their guts that Bergkamp never did that. And there Ljungberg was, every time. His goals, like his runs, seemed to come later and later each match, and the most notable of these came against West Ham United at the end of April 2002. Here, Arsenal were mounting a charge towards the championship, but found themselves frustrated until almost the eightieth minute by Glenn Roeder’s impressively disciplined defence. And then Bergkamp took possession forty yards from goal and surveyed his manor, the Dutch sorcerer looking up for his Swedish accomplice, and then Ljungberg did what Ljungberg always did.

I don’t know where Ljungberg learned the secret of what defenders truly hate, but that year in particular he knew it all too well. I learned the secret when playing defensive midfield for two years in Sunday League; the run that I despised most of all was when the striker arrived at full speed at a right angle to the through-ball. As a defender, you just can’t turn your gaze in two directions that fast, unless you either wish to retire in a neck brace or spin your head entirely off its shoulders. Against West Ham, against that poor centre-back, Ljungberg surged in at the steepest of angles; he thrust an outstretched toe towards yet another Bergkamp pass weighed with the utmost tenderness, like a doting father measuring out a dose of cough medicine for a sickly child. Ljungberg connected: one nil to the Arsenal; the game, and the title, were duly sealed.

I wonder where Ljungberg would play to best effect in today’s game. I like to imagine him at Atletico Madrid, playing as one of Diego Simeone’s fearsomely loyal lieutenants, scoring rarely but decisively before the most hostile of away crowds. There is something about him, beneath the flair of his haircuts, that reminds me of the fury and ruthlessness of the Argentine coach, two qualities that have long lurked beneath Arsène Wenger’s mostly urbane demeanour. And, somewhere in that drowsy Berlin conversation, I like to think that we reflected on how much Arsenal need Ljungberg’s spirit now.
Click to expand...
 
BaZZe

BaZZe

Always Blaming Refs

Country: Sweden
Kristoffer Olsson is having great success in the Swedish top league. Being a standout key player in a team that is on it's way to winning the title. He also just got called up to the national team and is now getting interest from other clubs. Still only 23. From day one I thought we jumped the gun by letting him go so easily despite him having a very successful loan and I still stand by that especially considering recent developments.
 
ThlRama

ThlRama

Active Member

Country: Greece

Player:Saka
Vermaelen played 90' yesterday against Valencia, not to mention 70' against Leganes a couple of matchdays ago. :lol::lol: And we Arsenal fans are complaining about Mustafi! :lol::lol:
 
J

James Bond

Moderation Consultant
Good little interview with Szczesny.

Wojciech Szczesny: Juventus goalkeeper on replacing Gianluigi Buffon
By Simon Stone
BBC Sport


Three years ago Wojciech Szczesny's career was at a crossroads.

In the summer of 2015 he had lost his place as Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper to David Ospina and Petr Cech's arrival from Chelsea shunted him further down the pecking order.

Yet fast forward to the present day and Szczesny is at one of the world's biggest clubs, Juventus, and tasked with the ominous job of replacing Gianluigi Buffon - arguably the best goalkeeper of the modern era.

So how did this happen, and how does the man himself feel about this dramatic reversal in his fortunes?

BBC Sport caught up with the 28-year-old Poland international in Turin this week to find out.

"I wanted to be at Arsenal for my whole career. It is the club I love. It is the club I still support. I gave everything to play there."

Szczesny makes no secret of his affection for Arsenal, having joined from Legia Warsaw as a 16-year-old in 2006.

He made his Premier League debut in 2010 and established himself as first choice a year later, but lost his place to Ospina in January 2015.

Szczesny did play in FA Cup ties and was in goal when Arsenal beat Aston Villa 4-0 in the final at Wembley in May of that year, but it proved to be the last of his 181 club appearances.

"I regret not having done more there," he adds. "I won two FA Cups and a Community Shield but I would have liked to win at least one Premier League title.

"But sometimes you have to think with your brain, not just your heart."

Salvation came with offer from Italian side Roma, who had finished the previous season in second place in Serie A to qualify for the Champions League.

He moved on loan for a season, which turned into two. Roma finished in the top three on both occasions and reached the last 16 of the Champions League twice.

Szczesny made 81 appearances and impressed enough to attract the attention of Juventus, who made a £10m bid.

He knew he would be playing second fiddle to Buffon but elected to play the long game.

"My first thought was that sometimes you have to take a step back to take two forward. When I analysed the situation, it wasn't much of a step back because I knew I was going to play," he says.

"I got 21 games, which is not bad for a second keeper. I also had the opportunity to learn from one of the best in history and I had one year to prepare for the job of replacing him.

"It was the best career opportunity I could ever have.

"I am proud of the way it has worked out. We all have difficult moments in our careers. It is how you react to them that counts. Where I am now hasn't come out of the blue. I have earned it."
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https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/45761597
 
krackpot

krackpot

Established Member
Trusted ⭐
BaZZe said:
Kristoffer Olsson is having great success in the Swedish top league. Being a standout key player in a team that is on it's way to winning the title. He also just got called up to the national team and is now getting interest from other clubs. Still only 23. From day one I thought we jumped the gun by letting him go so easily despite him having a very successful loan and I still stand by that especially considering recent developments.
Click to expand...
Olsson and others like Zelalem...you can see the potential is always there in these guys.
 
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