Arsenal announced on Monday morning that there will be some key backroom changes over the coming weeks.
After another underwhelming season, the Gunners will be keen to improve and they’ve made some changes to help them do that. Can these adjustments help them get into the top four? With the betfred promotionnal offer you can put your money where your mouth is.
“Freddie Ljungberg, who currently leads our under-23s, will become assistant first-team coach. We are delighted with the impact Freddie has made in helping to develop our young players into the first team and he fully deserves this promotion. Alongside his new coaching responsibilities, Freddie will have a strong focus on the young players who are moving into the first team group.”
This is a great testament to Freddie, who was so impressive for the under 23 team last season. Emery perhaps did not include enough of the clubs young talents as much as the upper echelons would’ve liked, so Freddie’s involvement next season could be key in helping address that.
The likes of Amaechi, Willock, Saka, Smith Rowe and Nelson will be pleased with this news I’m sure.
It’ll be interesting to see how Arsenal now behave in the transfer market, with there being a clear appetite to invest more in the youth setup currently at the club and give academy players more opportunities. The club in general, are being linked to younger players in the market currently, as the new management setup looks to reverse the ageing declining squad dynamic that was in place as Ivan Gazidis and Arsene Wenger signed off.
Arsenal do not have the money to compete financially with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and even Liverpool, so this new model could help the club maintain their status as a top English club.
With Freddie making the step up, it looks like Steve Bould will be taking a backwards step. Bould’s influence on the first team since Pat Rice departed can rightly be questioned. He is loved around the club but appears to have been limited in his ability to work with both Wenger and now Emery.
Bould will now take Freddie’s former role as under 23 manager.
“Steve Bould will lead our under-23 team as well as oversee the under-23 and under-18 phase programme with academy manager Per Mertesacker. Alongside his new under-23 head coach responsibilities, Steve will work with Freddie to determine how players transition between the academy and first team to ensure our players are exposed to the right challenges at the right time.”
Head of football Raul Sanllehi said: “Identifying, recruiting and developing young players is a key part of our strategy. We have some great talent coming through our younger age groups and, like all top clubs, the challenge is to help them make the most of their abilities.
“The hardest part is always the transition from academy football to senior football. We already have good programmes in place but these staff changes will ensure our plans are even more robust and clear for every single player. I’m confident it will make a significant difference to our ability to bring players through to the first team.”