“It’s a great honour… I have this energy inside me” – Freddie Ljungberg delighted to lead Arsenal on interim basis
Freddie Ljungberg says he is excited to have the opportunity to take charge of Arsenal on an interim basis.
The Gunners sacked Unai Emery on Friday after a run of seven games without a win in all competitions.
Ljungberg was immediately named as caretaker boss and will be the man in the dugout when Arsenal travel to Norwich on Sunday.
And the Swede, who made 351 appearances for the club as a player, is delighted to have been given the chance to lead the north London outfit.
"It is a great, great honour, that is how I feel. I have this energy inside me and it is special," Ljungberg told Sky Sports.
"There is sadness obviously with what has happened with the club, but excitement too with what is coming up and the chance to play.
"It is just a great honour and that is what I told the players - you guys have to do the job, I can help and support, but for me, it is a great, great honour.
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"I was proud, honoured that they trusted me to do it and deliver that. I felt excited because I feel we have some very good football players here and it is a great club. I felt excitement at such a big thing."
A positive run of form could prompt Arsenal to appoint Ljungberg on a permanent basis, but the 42-year-old insists he is not thinking that far ahead.
"They [the board] just said concentrate on the next game and do as good as you can and we will see from there," he said. "For me, I will just concentrate on those players, we have a game [on Sunday] and I will try to do the best I can.
"For me, it is about the team and the club. Try to concentrate about the game [at Norwich], not the future, try and win that and a few other games and then we will see. For me, that is what I look at and everything else is totally irrelevant.
"At the moment, I am learning the trade and trying to do everything I can to improve myself - of course it is an honour that the club thinks I am able to take on this massive responsibility, but at the moment I am just concentrating on taking it game by game."
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Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).