Martin Keown has reflected on how a language barrier landed Freddie Ljungberg in a spot of bother during his Arsenal playing days, unknowingly berating a chef in the canteen of the training ground
Freddie Ljungberg unknowingly found himself unleashing a foul-mouthed rant on an Arsenal chef during his playing days. After breaking through the ranks of Halmstad in his homeland of Sweden, the Gunners brought the winger to Highbury in a £3million deal in 1998.
While he knew some English upon arrival, he wasn’t quite fluent, and a language barrier proved problematic on one occasion in particular according to his former team-mate, Martin Keown. Speaking about Ljungberg’s arrival in north London, Keown told TNT Sports: “I remember early training sessions thinking, ‘wow this kid. He can play, he’s got a massive personality’.
“But it felt like a Jack Russell, like a young dog. I’ve got to just, kind of, snap the leash occasionally.”
And Ljungberg’s personality landed him in hot water after he didn’t realise that he had launched a foul-mouthed rant at a chef in the canteen.
Keown added: “One day you were hammering the chefs, saying ‘I can’t taste this f***ing rubbish’, and I was saying, ‘Freddie, no, no, no… on the pitch’. And then you said, ‘why? What have I said?’ Because you were trying to develop your language.”
Explaining the incident, Ljungberg said: “I remember I got the kit man to teach me all of the slang, because I wanted to understand what you guys were saying. I felt with Ray Parlour, when you guys spoke sometimes I was like, ‘what are they saying?’
“I didn’t understand a word. So I tried to like figure those things out, and yes sometimes maybe then the swear words I hadn’t really understood the severity of what you guys were saying in the dressing room. You couldn’t say them when you left the dressing room.
“So I learned after a while, so I appreciate that.” With a hint of comedy, Keown then quoted Ljungberg by saying: “‘I can’t eat this f***ing food’. Are you sure?” The former winger chuckled back.
Ljungberg ultimately spent eight years at Arsenal between 1998 and 2007, lifting two Premier League titles and four domestic trophies under Arsene Wenger, partially thanks to his 72 goals and 40 assists in 328 games.
He then played for West Ham United, Seattle Sounders, Chicago Fire, Celtic, Shimizu S-Pulse, and Mumbai City, before retiring in 2014.
In the years since, Ljungberg has gone on to manage Arsenal’s U15 and U23 sides, as well as a stint as caretaker manager of the first-team in 2019 following the departure of Unai Emery and ahead of the arrival of current head coach, Mikel Arteta.
Elsewhere, he currently manages the N5 FC team in the Baller League, alongside Jens Lehmann and Robert Pires.
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