Interview

‘The game is becoming easier under Ljungberg’

Things are looking good for our under-23s, who are currently unbeaten in their last five Premier League 2 outings.

Daniel Ballard is yet to miss a single minute of action under Freddie Ljungberg this season - and he strongly believes that the squad have bought into the Arsenal legend’s philosophy.

This is what the centre-back told Arsenal.com about it:

on whether the team are starting to understand Ljungberg’s philosophy

I think especially at the start of the season it was something completely new, so we had to learn the new rotations and how we play, so it’s really starting to come together. You’ll see it at the end of games now that teams are getting more tired with the way that we play and pass the ball. Working under him every day we’re learning so much more and the game is becoming easier, so we’re all understanding it more now and it’s making us play a lot better.

on what Ljungberg’s doing for his personal development…

I think he always wants the defenders to be on the front foot and very aggressive, so that plays into my strengths I think. It gives you the backing to go on the front foot, step in to win balls and obviously you’ve got to be very comfortable on the ball, which is something that I’ve been working on. There’s two parts to the game with him, so I really like playing under him.

on which players he looks up to in the Arsenal first-team…

I like Rob Holding as he’s quite young obviously and he’s very comfortable on the ball which is something that I can learn from. I think Mustafi steps in really well and is very aggressive on the front foot, so I think they’re two qualities from two good defenders. 

on his personal goals from now until the end of the season…

I’ve just got to keep playing well, keep my position in the team, keep putting in strong performances, and keep as many clean sheets as possible.

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