Freddie Ljungberg is preparing to take over as Arsenal’s caretaker manager after the club lost patience with Unai Emery following an awful run of form.
Emery could be sacked as early as Friday after Thursday’s Europa League defeat by Eintracht Frankfurt in front of a sparse crowd at the Emirates Stadium.
There is serious unrest at the team’s downward spiral and Ljungberg, who played for the club between 1998 and 2007, is standing by to take over.
Ljungberg has impressed since joining Arsenal as a coach and has been part of Emery’s backroom staff this season. The Swede is eager to become a manager and it is hoped he will energise a disgruntled fanbase.
Emery’s dismissal would come as no surprise to the Arsenal squad, a number of whom have made little effort to hide their dissatisfaction with the regime in recent weeks. Communication issues, rather than any personal animus with the head coach, are believed to be the significant factor in that and Ljungberg’s clarity would be welcomed by a team that has struggled to understand much of what Emery is demanding.
Ljungberg is not at this stage regarded as a long-term option. The Manchester City assistant Mikel Arteta – a former Arsenal midfielder who lost out to Emery when the role was last available in May 2018 – is among those under consideration. Wolves’ Nuno Espírito Santo and Massimiliano Allegri, who is out of work after leaving Juventus, are also thought to be of interest.
Emery has come under increasing pressure with Arsenal enduring a winless streak of seven games. Arsenal have 18 points from the opening 13 league games, are eight points adrift of the top four and are the only side in the top half of the table with a negative goal difference.
The Spaniard, who has been in charge for 18 months and who has a contract until June 2021, had been given a vote of confidence by the board this month. “We firmly believe Unai is the right man for the job,” they said then, though the message also stated that “things need to improve to meet our objectives for the season”.