Freddie Ljungberg shares what he told Arsenal’s players after Standard draw

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Arsenal managed to come back from 2-0 down to claim a point in the Europa League yesterday.

Arsenal boss Freddie Ljungberg has revealed to Football London that he praised his Arsenal team’s character, after they came back from 2-0 down to draw with Standard Liege last night.

Arsenal secured top spot in their Europa League group yesterday, even though their performance was far from vintage.

Arsenal went 2-0 down in the contest at Belgium, but they did not give in – with late goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Bukayo Saka earning them a point.

And Ljungberg has revealed that he told Arsenal’s players that he was impressed that they did not just throw the towel in, when things started going against them.

“We get sucker punched a little bit, they scored with two deflected goals, of course there are a lot of points to learn before that but two deflected goals that you can’t really smash the players for,” he said.

“The reaction we had…we believe in how we play, we find the pockets slice them open and two fantastic goals.

“I said to the players away from home, no disrespect but there was not so much grass on the pitch and 2-0 down, you could [think] not going to bother anymore, we could have folded, but we didn’t, we kept going and back in the game.”

Arsenal have now shown their ability to fight back in their last two matches.

The Gunners may have been low on confidence after a nine match winless run, but they have refused to simply roll over in recent games.

Arsenal came back from 1-0 down to beat West Ham United on Monday, and their recovery last night should help to keep momentum on their side.

Ljungberg’s men now face a hugely difficult challenge in their next match, when they take on Manchester City on Sunday.