Former Mikel Arteta’s assistant manager Freddie Ljungberg has revealed why he decided to quit London club Arsenal in the summer.

Ljungberg was appointed to be the Gunners’ manager in 2019 after the club sacked former coach Unai Emery in the November of that year following a series of poor performances and results. And Ljungberg did his best to convince the club’s board to hand him the job on a permanent basis but was not able to.

The managerial job was instead handed over to Mikel Arteta, who had Ljungberg work under him as his assistant before the 43-year-old decided to quit the club in search of newer challenges elsewhere.

In Ljungberg’s six games in charge, Arsenal recorded just one win, managed to draw three times, and suffering defeat on two occasions. It was after then that the club decided that it was necessary to find a permanent manager, and they went on to appoint the club’s former player Arteta for the role.

Ljungberg already had coaching experience at Arsenal, having taken charge of some of the club’s age groups including the u-15 and u-23 setups. However, the little experience could not afford him the luxury of the first-team role, as he left in August claiming that he quit to go in search of more managerial opportunities elsewhere.

The former winger narrated how he prepared for matchdays under Arteta, as he would take a seat in the stands and watch games to watch how their tactical tweaks are turning out, and whether they are working out fine.

He added that he would also study the opponents, and witness how they pressed them. He also said that he would take note of players who are playing according to plan, and the ones who are acting contrary to what was instructed in the gameplan, stating that he would remind them and correct them at the interval.

Ljungberg believes he would get a coaching job one day and probably face Arteta on the touchline.