It has been a horror show in 2010, a stream of images of an aging, falling, complaining Euro star who is not in tune with his coach, his mates or even his supporters. Ljungberg pulled stuff right out of the gate in 2010,
showing up late for training camp and then relying on the club to cover for him as fans railed. "A miscommunication," defended the Sounders front office. Kasey Keller said at the time
“I want the players on this team who want to be here. If Freddie wants to be here and wants to be fully committed, then sure. If he doesn’t, it’s more of a distraction than a benefit. That’s how I am: I’d much rather have a guy with less talent that wants to be here than a guy with great talent who doesn’t.”
Ljungberg just isn't "one of the guys," nor has he tried to be. Witness the Boca Juniors match on Wednesday. While every single Sounder, suited or not, was on the bench and with the team,
Ljungberg chose to take in the match from a luxury suite.
Some of the unrest that Kasey Keller and other players have had with Ljungberg's decisions and team efforts have roots in 2009, when the Swede struggled to blend in with Fredy Montero, and then fell off the radar in August. Later the club said
he was suffereing from hypoglycemia. While the Sounders were suffering through a poor August, but anticipating a trip to the US Open Cup Final, Ljungberg was tending to his own needs and ruffling feathers in the clubhouse in the process. There are those who still wonder about the actual diagnosis. Ljungberg played in the US Open Cup Final, then took off for London and Sweden on personal leave while the club had a break and prepared for a second trip to DC to play United, this time in a league match.
Continued:
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-413-Seattle-Soccer-Examiner~y2010m5d31-Time-to-say-farewell-to-Freddie-but-how-soon
Freddie Ljungberg finally out of favor?
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Originally Posted by pekduck
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