The Chicago Fire Soccer Club announced today that they have acquired former Arsenal midfielder and Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg from Seattle Sounders FC for a conditional selection in the 2011 or 2012 SuperDraft. Today’s move marks the first-ever trade of a Designated Player in the history of Major League Soccer. The 33-year-old midfielder becomes the Fire’s second designated player and will become available for selection by Fire Head Coach Carlos de los Cobos this Sunday, Aug. 1 when the Fire take on the LA Galaxy at The Home Depot Center in Carson, CA at 6:30 PM CT (FSC/FSE).Per Major League Soccer and club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Freddie is an exceptional player, with world-class talent and we are thrilled to have him join the Chicago Fire,” said Fire Technical Director Frank Klopas. “He is a player with an illustrious career and as an attacking player he will help us towards our goal of bringing the MLS Cup to Chicago.” In 2009, Ljungberg tallied two goals and nine assists, including five game winning assists, as the former Arsenal great was named to the 2009 MLS Best XI. “I have been thinking long and hard about the next step in my career and I am extremely happy to become the newest member of the Chicago Fire,” said Ljungberg. “I had a very long and exciting meeting with Fire owner Andrew Hauptman and technical director Frank Klopas.
The creative midfielder’s first home match for the Men In Red pits him against former Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry, when the Fire host the New York Red Bulls at TOYOTA PARK on Aug. 8 at 8:00 PM CT
So, what does everyone think?
Hi!
ReplyDeleteStumbled upon your blog and love it!
Was curious since so few updated about him anymore...do you know where to find the documentary from years ago that's called Close Up and aired in the UK? Seriously, have been searching EVERYWHERE for about a year with no luck!
I posted here http://ljungbergzone.blogspot.com/2008/09/freddie-ljungberg-close-up.html with no luck but maybe you, or someone out there reading this in Freddie-land has it and can share! :)
P.S. I am completely gutted that Freddie has left for Chicago. Being here in Seattle, it was so awesome to be able to see him both live and on tv for each and every game (and got to meet him a few times too!) - I do wish him well there and have my front row tickets for when the Fire come back to Seattle at the end of this month. Will be cheering him on! :)
ReplyDeleteAre you talking about the documentary where he's driving around & going to stores to try on clothes? If so, I don't have it, but I've seen it. I'll try to find it!
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of upset he left Seattle too, & I'm from Michigan! I'm not too upset though, now he's playing a lot closer! I like the Sounders, but I don't think he got a fair shake. Since I live here I can only see games on espn, was he really complaining that much?
ReplyDeletelol I'm not sure! I've only seen screen caps of portions of the documentary. I know he was young and that blog I linked was the only recent place that I could find it, although it's been removed since and the guy running it has been MIA for the last year or so. It initially aired in the UK with Sky One or something, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. :(
ReplyDeleteAhhh, no I don't think he got a fair shake either. I'd say he definitely complained, although it was legitimate arguments (plus it's better than the guys who gave up, walked instead of ran, and sulked). Last year he was the most fouled guy in the MLS (and then take into consideration how many weren't called lol). This year was no different. He got hacked and targeted nonstop.
I also think people were quick to place the blame on him for the season 'gone wrong' as well. But (I don't know how familiar you are with the team) we had key injuries to our midfield/forwards and the 2 guys who got playing time as a result were bombs (Noonan and a guy we not so fondly call Pass Back Pete). So essentially Freddie had nobody to pass to and nobody to feed him passes on brilliant runs. Yet he got blamed for not producing. As you can see, I'm still a bit bitter about it haha.
He is a super classy guy though (I've always thought so) and came back to Seattle to film a goodbye interview after the Fire/LA game. It's here and a great watch:
http://www.king5.com/sports/Freddie-Ljungbergs-Exclusive-Interview-99889259.html
I am looking forward to the Fire's game tomorrow against NY. Should be interesting with the whole 5 DP thing going on! I really hope Freddie does well with the team...not only for him and his career, but also because that would make the Sounders FO realize it's the 2nd guy we 'lost' who is now flourishing with a new team. :)
P.S. Michigan? My brother goes to MSU and is in his last year. He loves it out there!!
Thanks for the link to that video! I LOVE IT! I met him once & my opinion is he's really that nice & genuine. I'm looking into getting tickets for a Chicago game, my first game I ever went to is when the Sounders played the Crew. I've followed Freddie since Arsenal, so I pretty much spazzed out when I saw him in person! I'm still looking for that video here & there, now it's like my mission to find it! lol I'm pretty sure the one I saw is Close up, because his brother is featured in it quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your brother studying? East Lansing is beautiful! I am a big State fan, I have a lot of friends who went to school there. Way better than U of M :)
Hi! Just like you I've been looking for the documentary for ages! It's called "Fredrik Ljungberg: Close up" and aired on Sky one in 2003. I finally found the first part of the total of 8 parts, here's the link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.megavideo.com/?d=32F5HVYQ
Unfortunately I can not find the other 7 parts, and believe me I tried.
However, maybe you are more skilled when it comes to searching the internet, so if you find the rest of it, or something else that's worth watching, PLEASE post a link to it here, I am dieing to watch it.
@Conny: Sweet! I will have to watch it this weekend. Any Freddie fix to ease me off his departure from Seattle! :)
ReplyDelete@Loppy lol I've also been avidly trying to hunt that video down. Between the 3 of us (and others I'm sure) hopefully we can find it somewhere!!
Freddie really does seem genuine. I went to a game at Starfire in July (ironically his last appearance as a Sounder) and the venue holds around 2-3k, so a lot smaller than Qwest. He spent the entire second half signing autographs for fans. He signed my jersey and signed tickets, foreheads, you name it. Every time the crowd finally dwindled and he got to sit back on the bench to watch the match, someone would call his name and he popped back up with a huge smile and a whole new crowd swarmed him. He never stopped and until the match was over. It was like 90 degrees that day and it was just so awesome to see. I took some pictures of him with my phone and it's been my wallpaper ever since. :D
He even did an autograph signing last year with Kasey Keller and over 1000 people showed up. They stayed late so as many people as possible could get an autograph. It was really cool.
Whoohoo! Go MSU! Much better, I agree! :) My brother is majoring in kinesiology and then applying to masters programs for occupational therapy, I believe. He also had great things to say about East Lansing...I'm hoping I'll get to visit at some point before he leaves!!