DUBAI // Arsene Wenger is still the right man to return Arsenal to their trophy-winning ways, according to Freddie Ljungberg, the club’s former midfielder.
Wenger, hugely successful during the first half of his 18-year reign at the English Premier League side, has failed to guide the club to any silverware since the 2005 FA Cup final victory against Manchester United.
This season, Arsenal again seemed set to challenge for the Premier League crown – they topped the table in January – only to fall away in the closing months.
That inability to sustain in the title race has prompted speculation Wenger may walk away from the club in the summer, especially with his contract about to expire.
However, Ljungberg said, given the financial constraints caused by Arsenal’s relocation to the Emirates Stadium, which was completed in 2006, Wenger has done well to ensure the north Londoners have continued to qualify for the Uefa Champions League every season. Arsenal are currently fourth in the Premier League, although they face competition for a Champions League spot from Everton, one point behind, in fifth.
With the club now in a healthy financial state – this year, Deloitte ranked Arsenal as the eighth-richest team in the world – Ljungberg expects Wenger to spend heavily this summer to ensure Arsenal regain their position at the summit of English football. The Swede was integral to the side that lifted two Premier League titles and three FA Cup crowns under Wenger at the beginning of this century.
“I don’t think the criticism of Arsene has been fair,” said Ljungberg, in Dubai in his new role as Arsenal ambassador.
"When I played, he could do a little more in the transfer market, but the restriction placed on him by the new stadium meant he had to factor that in. And he coped really well. But the signing of [Mesut] Ozil last summer showed real intent, when in the past we have sold our best players. It lifted confidence and belief.
“Now Arsene finally has a bit more money in the war chest and he should have the opportunity to build a new team. He’s an amazing manager. I want to see him there for a few years when he can buy whoever he wants. You need to look at the full picture: if Arsene now gets those possibilities as a manager then I’m 100 per cent convinced he’ll start winning trophies again.”
Arsenal have the opportunity to do that next month, when they face Hull City in the FA Cup showpiece at Wembley. It will be their third final since the 2005 triumph, with defeats against Barcelona in the Champions League in 2006, and then the 2011 League Cup to Birmingham City, extending Arsenal’s barren spell.
Ljungberg, who represented the club from 1998 to 2007, therefore sees the Hull encounter as crucial to this Arsenal side’s development. He said: “It’s extremely important for the club, just to get rid of that tag that we haven’t won anything for the past nine years.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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