By Brian Bariyo Tumuramye
Arsene Wenger says Arsenal should only give Freddie Ljungberg a maximum of six games to prove he is a credible candidate to succeed Unai Emery on a permanent basis.
The Swede was named interim head coach after Emery was relieved of his duties last week, following Arsenal’s poor run of form which saw them fail to win a Premier League game since the beginning of October.
Ljungberg took charge of his game at the weekend, which finished as a 2-2 draw with Norwich at Carrow Road.
But speaking at an event for the charity Grief Encounter, former Gunners manager Wenger said the north London side may have to appoint an experienced coach if Ljungberg does not provide an immediate lift in the next month.
“If Freddie [Ljungberg] can’t stabilise in the next five or six games, you will need to put it to a guy with some experience,” he said, “But I hope they take off with Freddie.”
The visit of Brighton on Thursday is Ljungberg’s first home match in charge of Arsenal, and the 42-year-old says he has learnt from the mistakes his side made against Norwich.
“Of course there was a lot of reflection after the game. I’ve watched the game twice and the general feeling is the same from after the game. We started extremely well, playing very well offensively, we have a problem transition-wise so they got shots on target from an 80-yard sprint.
That’s something we will focus on. Other things, we are getting behind their (Norwich’s) midfield and behind their back line a lot has been backed up by data within the club.
“We have skyrocketed up to one of the top teams in the league for getting into pockets and in behind. So that feels good that my feelings after the game were backed up by the data and of course we will try to keep on doing that.
“I wanted win the game and I’m very disappointed not to win it. If we play the transition game like we did we won’t win any games but that’s something I can coach and try to change.”
