Quotes

‘Freddie wants happy faces… a good atmosphere’

Bernd Leno

Bernd Leno was a happy man on Monday evening.

On the same day our No 1 was crowned November Player of the Month, he starred as we came from a goal behind to end our winless run with a commanding second-half performance at West Ham United.

 

And he puts our upturn in form down to the impact Freddie Ljungberg has had since taking the reins as interim head coach.

 

"From the first day he said he wanted to see laughing faces, to see a good atmosphere," Leno said. "We had a bad time, we are all human and it is not easy. It was not like we did not try, but it just did not work.

 

"I do not know what the club is deciding. We only have to focus on now. Freddie is doing a very good job. The team know about his quality and the way they want to play. We want to play with possession, keep the ball and also press very high, and also with transitions.

 

"At half-time [on Monday] Freddie was talking and analysing. He showed us some situations that we needed to be braver. We did this. It is good feeling, we all missed the feeling. He was calm but in a very straight way.

 

"It was not like everyone was not trying, but you could feel that we did not play in a free way and he made us more free to play. You could see this more in the second half. After the second and the third goal you could see how we can play with more confidence. This is the real Arsenal."

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