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Another Illustrious Career Comes To An End

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Football over the years has managed to grace us the chance of watching athletes who individually have managed to catch the eye, let alone when amongst a team full of talent. Inevitably more names were in the pipeline to follow the list of players who have called it a day on their playing time. As seasons pass players are getting older and their bodies just can’t cope anymore and at the age of 35 it brings me no surprise to mention Freddie Ljungberg as the next former “big” name star to hang up his boots, with a history to look back on and feel proud of.

Freddie started his career at Halmstads BK where he join as a teenager, before being fast tracked through the youth system there, due to his great potential he showed. This proved to be the right idea made by the staff at the current time, as he soon went on to storm into the senior team, making 139 appearances and scoring 16 goals in all competitions and winning both the league title and Swedish Cup since he made his debut for the first team from 1994 up until 1998.

After clearly showing his talent in the top division in Sweden and getting a taste for silverware, it came to no surprise to see Arsene Wenger snap him up for a Swedish record fee of £3million in 1998, as he fit straight into the winning mentality which the Arsenal side possessed at the time after winning their 2nd league title and cup double in the 1997-98 season.

The highlight of his career could quite easily be a flip of a coin between the 2001-02 season which he scored 17 goals in all competitions and played a pivotal role in the side during the season. However, you could also argue his highlight could be during the 2003-04 season, when Arsenal managed to achieve a National record by going on a 49 game unbeaten run.

After his time at the top flight with Arsenal and spending 9 years with the club, he started to find himself on the side-lines due to dealing with a series of injuries. Arsene Wenger and Freddie eventually decided to part ways, which was when the famous saying came in to play “What’s one man’s loss, is another man’s gain” as West Ham pounced at the chance to snap him up on a four year deal.

He spent just one season with the Hammers, whilst his reputation and years of success in the pass, gave fans the sense of real optimism. During the 2007-08 season he managed to make 28 appearances, scoring just 2 goals, failing to recapture his form he once showed for many years. He did show glimpses of what he was capable of producing, it just wasn’t consistent enough and this starting to cast the feeling doubt in the minds of some fans causing them to suggest his only playing to get a nice pay check for when he retires. However after dealing with injury issues, he soon decided to retire from Sweden’s international football team, allowing him to channel all of his focus to his club.

When I first saw that we were interested in him, I thought it was going to be a great move for the club, however I was quite let down and he lacked desire at times, especially if you compare him to the modern day Mark Noble who wears “passion” all over his face. Despite his failure to impress and set his mark in the hall of fame of West Ham amongst some of the greats, he did play his part in that season and he has have a fantastic career, I am just honoured to have had a player like him at our club, no matter the silverware or results outcome.

After he eventually agreed to pay off the rest of his contract, he started to question his position and passion for the game; however he eventually signed for another 4 clubs, including Celtic, Chicago Fire and Shimizu S-Pulse.

So for all of his honours and success throughout his career I praise him for gracing the game of football with his talents. I wish him all the best in the future, whatever path he chooses to follow. Show your respect in his talent and pass the praise on.

COYI!

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