Arsenal old boy did well not to follow Robert Pires’ lead
Freddie Ljungberg likes making bold statements. Throughout a career that has been scattered with individual performances that have lit up England’s top-flight, the dynamic Swede has often played by his own rules. His recent decision to spend what could be the final months of his career with Scottish giants Celtic is likely to be the final bold pronouncement as Ljungberg comes to grips with the fact that he can no longer cope with the demands of the Premier League.
When Ljungberg followed Thierry Henry’s decision to leave the Emirates in the summer of 2007, citing a lack of ambition from Arsene Wenger’s men, he appeared to be taking the view that the Arsenal side he had once contributed so much to, had become unable to match the ever relentless pace set by front runners Chelsea, and old foes, Manchester United. Ljungberg’s prophecy of the future appears to have been vindicated, if only he could have seen the downturn his own career would take after moving out of North London.
Within a year of moving across the capital to London rivals, West Ham, Ljungberg’s star was already on the slide. Having stated a desire to propel the Hammers into European contention, Freddie’s form evaporated, and despite giving up underwear modelling to focus on his game, it was quickly apparent that his time at Upton Park would be brief.
After a disappointing summer at Euro 2008 Ljungberg cut his losses and retired from the international scene. Within weeks he was also on his way out of English football after failing to attend a large portion of pre-season it was announced that both he and West Ham had decided to go their separate ways.
After watching disinterested and uninspiring performances from Ljungberg during his final season in the top-flight, it is hard to believe that there were so many offers on the table from Premier League sides. The two years spent plying his trade in the football backwaters of the MLS with Chicago Fire and Seattle Sounders did little to persuade Ljungberg himself that he could still handle the highest standard of football available, even if some clubs saw things differently.
If only Ljungberg’s honesty had been matched by former fellow Gunner, Robert Pires. Pires, like Ljungberg was not afforded a grand exit in a red shirt when he decided to make the move to Spanish side Villareal four and a half years ago. His final contribution as an Arsenal player was to be sacrificed after Jens Lehmann’s red card in the opening minutes of the 2006 Champions League final. Clearly Pires felt he had some unfinished business in England when he joined Aston Villa on a short-term deal earlier this season.
On the one hand you can understand Pires’ desire to keep pushing himself, he only needs to look at players such as Ryan Giggs, Gary Speed or Paul Scholes to appreciate that age need not be a barrier to success in England. Whereas Ljungberg slipped into a celebrity lifestyle during his years outside of Britain, Pires kept playing his football at a high level before leaving Spain at the end of last season, the chance of a brief but successful Premier League swansong appeared credible.
For Ljungberg, his move to Celtic is another indication of where the Scottish Premier League is in relation to it’s English counterpart. Whilst he is three years younger than his former Arsenal colleague it has dawned on the Swede that another spell in English football would only damage a reputation that once marked Ljungberg as one of the finest wingers in Europe, and affected the hairstyles of thousands of young kids. A journey into the far calmer waters of the SPL would appear to be his best bet of more silverware, without the risk of ruining his memory in the minds of football fans across England.
However, in a league which prides itself in the high intensity of it’s football, Robert Pires has shown himself to be a faded force in a Villa side lingering ominously above the relegation zone. Despite endeavouring to roll back the clock to his years running around Highbury, the former French international will surely see his career draw to a close in May, his story of not knowing when to stop giving further credence to the old adage; “never go back.”
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Now I know that the level of football played in the SPL may not be of the highest, but to say that Ljungberg’s move to Celtic is a ‘final pronouncement’ that he can no longer cope with the EPL is yet both premature and ill-informed. After all, the last Swede who wore the No 7 shirt at Celtic went on to win the Champions League with Barcelona, beating Arsenal almost single-handedly in the final, when he was already in the last few years of his career. Larsson then went on to take a few months of his close season at Helsingborgs to play for Man Utd, when he was practically retired!
And it’s not just Henrik Larsson. Ask Man City what they thought of Sol Bamba’s contribution to their disappointing draw with Leicester at the weekend.
No, Ljungberg coming to Celtic is, if anything, his attempt to get back playing in Europe while he still has a few years left to do so.
Give him a few good performances and there will be a good half dozen premiership clubs bidding for him. Whether he wants to leave Celtic by that point though, is another matter.
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This is just a typical English clown attitude as always. Celtic and Rangers are bigger clubs than 95% of English premiership clubs and take a look at results they’ve had against English teams in the past. Just look at Celtics run to the UEFA cup final beating Blackburn and Liverpool and Rangers draw with Man UTD this season. The English premiership is full of businessmen with big money. Not good teams. Its nowhere near the great league most people south of the border think it is. The old firm would finish top 5 in the premiership every year. Easily.
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On Friday, i listened to talksport presenters going into a frenzy about 35yr old Beckham joining Spurs,all sorts of garbage about how he’d help them to the title and how it would be great for the premiership, he cant tackle, cant head the ball, has never been blessed with pace, and his career at the highest level is over, he knew that when he went to galaxy, so maybe your “best league in the world” isn’t as good as you think it is if a 35yr old cloths horse, who cant inspire galaxy to the title in a league for semi-retired premiership players, can come in and help Spurs to the title with 10 minute cameos in the 5 week period that he’ll be there, this is the poorest man utd team i’ve seen for years yet the’re still going to run away with the title, the transfer fees and wages paid by clubs are unsustainable and the businessmen have created a monster that will end up destroying the premiership and probably about 95% of the clubs as well, then we’ll see who the real big clubs are. Celtic and Rangers have proved to be more than capable of matching the top teams in England, as have a lot of other European teams without the sky millions.
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Well said lads! Just smug english attitude as usual!!!!! They go on about spl always being a 2 horse race. Well when was the last time a team apart from man utd or chelsea won the epl?
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Come on guys. I accept this is the weakest the division has been for years, but to suggest that the SPL is even comparable to the Premier League is a joke.
Kenny Miller has scored 21 goals this season for Rangers- twice the amount of his nearest challenger. He has been unable in three separate spells down south to even keep himself in the top flight.
David Weir is a remarkable footballer, but at nearly 41 he is cruising through another season in Scotland. Can you honestly tell me he would still be able to play week in week out against players with genuine pace?
The European examples you point to are all well and good, but the Blackburn and Liverpool results were eight years ago, when Celtic had an excellent side. The quality players both of the Old Firm clubs once had have almost leaked out of Scottish football.
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Cameron, I am a Celtic fan and while I accept we are not as strong as we once were I would still fancy our chances against any EPL team. And as much as it pains me to say it, Rangers showed this season that they can compete with a draw against Man Utd. Not only that, off the park the fan base and commercial revenue both teams have is far better than most EPL teams.
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