Freddie Ljungburg retires from football by AM
It started with “We love you Freddie, because you’ve got red hair, we love you Freddie because you’re everywhere, we love you Freddie, you’re Arsenal through and through” and by the end his nine year spell it evolved to “We love you Freddie, because you’ve got no hair”. In between those nine years Freddie Ljunburg won two English premier league, three FA cups, three community shield, one player of the season award (2001-02) and countless diagonal runs from the midfield into the box.
Freddie Ljunburg after spending nearly 18 years in professional football has decided to hang up his boots. His press adviser told Swedish television on Friday –
“It’s correct that Fredrik has taken the decision to quit. I got the decision on Wednesday,”
Freddie spent last year at Japanese club Shimizu S-Pulse and this decision comes days after his contract was terminated by mutual consent. Freddie joined Arsenal from Swedish side Halmstads Bollklubb in 1998. He was an important part of the Arsenal ‘Invincibles’. Maybe at times he didn’t get the praise or credit that he deserved just because he played in a team containing the likes of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Viera and Robert Pires. But Freddie was as important as any of those names.
He was not a typical/orthodox winger. There are wingers who hug the touchline, wingers who dribble past full-backs but Freddie was known for his trademark diagonal runs into the box. Very few players could time his runs like he did, and even fewer did it more consistently than Freddie. His understanding with Pires and Henry was almost telepathic, and before the opponent could blink Freddie would break the off-side trap and get in behind the defense. He scored 46 goals in his Arsenal careers and nearly each was made by his run behind the defense. In short, there are very few footballers who could make better off the ball movement than Freddie Ljunberg.
Ljunberg’s best performances came in 2001-02 season, when Arsenal won the double and Freddie was selected as the player of the season. Those who are old enough to have witnessed that, know it was something special. In 2008, Ljungburg was voted as 11th in the all time greats list at Arsenal.com.
Freddie was also known for his bright and funky hair colour and his amiable nature also made him a crowd favorite. He was acted as a model for Calvin Klein and a heartthrob among girls. In fact there are stories of him be virtually attacked by girls in a pub!
Above all, Freddie will always be remembered as one of the best footballers to have donned the famous red and white jersey. We hope your life remain as colorful as your hairstyles Freddie.
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