After overseeing Arsenal in an interim capacity before the appointment of Mikel Arteta, Freddie Ljungberg is reportedly close to a permanent managerial job. Emil Sandberg of Swedish publication Sportal reports that Ljungberg is on the verge of being appointed as Malmo’s head coach.
Freddie Ljungberg Close to Joining Malmo
The Arsenal Job
Following the sacking of Unai Emery at the end of November, Ljungberg oversaw five games in charge of the Gunners. He was ultimately unable to arrest the slide that had started under Emery though, picking up four Premier League points from four games and a Europa League group stage point away at Standard Liege.
His only win at Arsenal was a 3-1 success away at West Ham United and it was the last half an hour of the game that showed what the Gunners could be capable of under Ljungberg. Having been 1-0 down to Angelo Ogbonna’s header, three goals in nine minutes from Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang turned the game around.
More disappointment followed afterwards, though. Despite late goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka rescuing a point against Liege, it was still an underwhelming result. As was the final game in the Premier League for Freddie Ljungberg, as Manchester City blew the Gunners away to record a 3-0 win.
Who is He Replacing?
Fans of England’s lower leagues may remember Uwe Rosler. The German spent seven years managing in the Football League, starting with Brentford before going onto Wigan Athletic, Leeds United and Fleetwood Town.
After leaving Fleetwood at the end of the 2017/18 season, he moved to Malmo, who finished the 2019 Swedish Allsvenskan in second place. This was enough to earn them a place in the Europa League.
Rosler and Malmo parted ways at the end of the season though, and a return to Sweden now looks on the cards for Ljungberg. The report from Sportal says that Malmo is located close to Ljungberg’s home in Halmstad and also that he has a good relationship with Malmo’s current sporting director, Daniel Andersson.
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