Arsenal interim boss Freddie Ljungberg has explained his decision to side with experience for his first match in charge, and revealed what his toughest decision was.
The former midfielder takes charge of the Gunners for the first time today following Unai Emery’s sacking as they take on Norwich City at Carrow Road.
Arsenal will be looking to end a run of seven games without a victory in all competitions, and ahead of the game Ljungberg discussed the decision process he went through in selecting his first team.
Mesut Özil and Granit Xhaka are both included after finding themselves out of favour under Emery, while Shkodran Mustafi makes his first Premier League start of the season.
Elsewhere, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang holds onto the captain’s armband.
On his selections, Ljungberg told Sky Sports: “As the manager, I need to pick the team I believe in. I’ve used a bit of experience, and I think they need to take the lead in a hard time like we’re in at the moment.
“There are difficult decisions to be made, for example I left Reiss Nelson back home in London, which for me is really hard because he’s the future of this club in my opinion, a great talent, but I had to leave him out.
“Those are the decisions you have to do as a manager, and it’s not always easy.
“I believe in how people treat me, I give everybody a possibility. I felt that was the best balance of our team.”
On the captaincy, Ljungberg added: “There have been so many discussions about the captain, and I just thought it was better that I leave it as it is.
“Auba’s a great captain, he’s a great football player, so that’s how we’re going to go.
“I think every manager has to tailor a little bit how they play to the players they have, I can’t just say ‘we’re going to play this way’, and then nobody fits into it.
“Of course, you have to tinker a little bit with the system to make it work, but I felt this was a good line-up, and hopefully it will be successful.”
