Former Arsenal great and current West Ham sick room bench warmer (and part time underwear model) Freddie Ljungberg has lost his freaking mind. The press are portraying it as “having a go” at Arsene Wenger or “ripping” him but look at this quote:
While I was being treated for an injury they went out and found a different player for my position. After I recovered I was given a chance in the typical Wenger way – I was expected to run and intercept and score just the same as before.
What exactly did you want them to do? Play with 10 men while you recuperated, then hand you back your job regardless of whether you are the best man for it, and hold up the progress of other Arsenal players like Theo Walcott?
He just didn’t give me enough time to do it properly.
Sorry Freddie, you had two full seasons to perform and you turned in 4 goals and 4 assists in two full seasons. Moreover, this season with West Ham has seen you suffer multiple injuries and turn in a paltry 2 goals and 3 assists.
Freddie has to know that football is a cutthroat business. Players have maybe 5-10 years of playing time if they are lucky. Injuries happen and when they do teams cannot afford to have dead weight on the roster. Freddie’s salary was one of the largest on the payroll, he was demanding starts ahead of other players because he felt his history had earned him a spot, and he wasn’t performing. Sorry Freddie, you had to go. The only shame in all this is the way you have chosen to act since you left.
I went to West Ham in order to play against Arsenal as often as possible. I wanted to prove that Ljungberg hadn’t had his last word as a player.
And Arsenal let you go to West Ham because Wenger didn’t fear that you’d be a threat.
I feel bad for Freddie. This is a horrible way to end his career. I mean, it’s pretty clear that he’s done and just is refusing to give up and sort of lashing out at anyone and everyone he can on his way down. And after what he gave Arsenal this is a real shame.
UPDATE: Freddie says Freddie never said such things and Freddie loves Arsenal. That’s better, the world makes more sense now.
Speaking of giving youth a chance, it seems that Arsenal are one of three clubs that are in the running for Cardiff City’s Aaron Ramsey. United and Everton are the other two clubs, with Liverpool reportedly forwarding a bid this morning some time. Ramsey’s the one who will choose the club he goes to, so let’s hope that the opportunity that only Arsenal can offer will be enticing. Besides, it’s looking like Man U will be busy trying to save their want away “midfielder” Ronaldo from “fulfilling his dream” of joining Real Madrid. It’s funny, I have that same dream Christiano (you going to Real).
Arsenal, meanwhile, have locked up surprise sensation Bacary Sagna until 2014 or when he has 2 years left on his contract, turns 28, and pulls a Webster. Actually, according to my maths… huh, guess what? I think Sagna will be with Arsenal for at least three years! It’s a contact coup!
And finally, it’s looking like Adebayor’s stunning goal against Tottenham is going to win “goal of the season.” Want to see the goal in question again? Here:
[livevideo id=8643A453D63B4C57B6C9000720E30A21]
What are your thoughts on SAFergeson’s comments that he would rather doom C Ronaldo to the stands than sell him? If I were Aaron Ramsey, I would be EXTREMELY concerned by their attitude. If Madrid is willing to pay stupid money and the kid wants to go, they should let him. They could buy 4 or 5 players for the same money. SFA seems to think he OWNS Ronaldo outright. To me that would be (at least) strike 2. Strike 1 would be know that the best he could hope for was Championship football on a regular basis. Either he’s loaned to a small club who could never afford to buy him or he is the 5th or 6th choice to play. Of course Strike 3 is that it’s MU. The general arrogance and attitude that they SHOULD win every game and when they don’t it’s down to poor officiating. (It’s the only team I’ve ever heard say “We should have had 3 penalties and not just the one.” after a 0-0 tie.) They might succeed in having C Ronaldo play for another 3 years but I think it will cost them plenty in future signings.
Hey Alex,
Well, I’m of two minds on this.
When I was a basketball fan I got really tired of players constantly demanding more money, or to be traded, or whatever and I openly stated that I wished the Seattle Supersonics would just let Gary Payton rot on the bench for the last two years of his contract. So, I understand where that sentiment comes from: don’t sign a contract unless you plan to honor it. Imagine if I was a contractor and I made a bid to build a garage for you and after the concrete was poured I won a national award and so felt like I should start charging people more. So I come to you and start demanding more money or your project is going to stop.
You’d be rightly pissed! It’s the same with these clubs. Arsenal signed Adebayor to a four year deal and now he’s reportedly asking for double on the back of last season’s success. What do they do? They have all these marketing ties, they’ve balanced their budget with certain contracts in mind and plans have been made to strengthen the squad. It’s not like there’s just an endless stream of money (Chelsea) that they can put into the club. So, I can see teams wanting to force players to honor the contract that they signed.
On the other hand, it’s a player’s world. Players (especially strikers) make or break a team’s marketing and getting asses in seats and asses in seats pays the bills (50%). So the threat to “sit” Ronaldo is really an empty threat. Man U would really struggle without Ronaldo on and off the pitch. Without Ronaldo, Chelsea would have done the double this season: which means huge losses (in £££) for Man U. So, they need Ronaldo and they showed him that by just giving him a huge contract.
What I think we saw is a visceral reaction from a manager that probably feels very hurt by Ronaldo’s double dealing. And, you know you make some really good points, but Fergie’s always been a hot head. He fired Ruud van Nistelrooy for god’s sake! He fired ROY KEANE! And still players like Rooney, Ronaldo, Nani, and Anderson keep signing on with him.
Hopefully the thing that will sway Rambo in our favor is that Arsenal has a very very good track record of developing young talent. So, if he wants to be one of the top players in the world in 5 years he needs to get into Wenger’s system now. If he wants to rot on the bench at Chelsea, or keep playing for Cardiff (which is supposed to be a bonus that Man U is offering), then he’ll choose those paths.
I hope he chooses Arsenal.
I also hope Ronaldo goes to Real.
I agree that a player who signs a contract should honor it. I’m VERY tired of these players who are given huge multi-year deals want to renegotiate them in 6 months to a year after signing. If you want a raise next year, either put it in the contract or simply sign for one year. I think this is more a problem with agents than with the players (although not entirely – agents CAN be fired and reprimanded). The biggest problem I see with having a player that doesn’t want to be at your club on the field is that you won’t get the effort from him. Of course, he’ll try and probably play well but he won’t leave EVERYTHING on the field like someone who wanted to be there would. I understand Fergie’s reaction but I think his comments were not particularly wise.
Have you seen that Jones has come out saying the Ramsey would do well at a team like United? I’m sure he simply has the player’s best interest at heart. *snicker* (I tried to do it with a straight face and just couldn’t.) I have read somewhere that Arsene has already told him that he would immedidately join the senior team and try to compete for a first team spot. Let’s hope that offer made an impact (assuming it was true).
I was just curious to see your take on the matter. We typically tend to agree on most issues and again it seems to be the case. Anyway, thanks for taking the time.