Top 70 Quotes & Sayings by Freddie Ljungberg

Everyone that works knows that work is hard sometimes.

Unai is very calm, composed and extremely detailed in what he expects. From Monday through to Friday, every single training session is very carefully planned.

Where I am from in Sweden was on the beach, so I love the sound of the water hitting the dock.

I felt Arsenal had let a lot of players go. When Thierry left I felt it was time for me to do something different and challenging.

Where I came from had a lot of friends. A big social circle.

When you play against a Spanish team, especially Madrid, it is quite an open game.

The important thing for me is we want to keep the ball, we want to have the ball because we are Arsenal football club.

For me, happy footballers play the best football.

Sometimes you have to just plug away, plug away in your game of football and maybe when your opponent gets a bit more tired you get that little extra metre and that's when you score the goals.

I try to see what the players can do and not what they can't do.

When I came from Europe, I was told that Americans don't care about soccer and this and that. But the way people cared was beyond my wildest expectations. You can't manufacture that.

I made a conscious decision when I was about 30 that I wanted to do something different with my life. I felt a little bit lost and didn't trust people, so I decided to move to America.

The Swedish team plays very differently from Arsenal. There is more freedom with Arsenal and they play a passing game.

I have always dressed to please myself, not other people. I don't care what they think.

I am not that shy.

When friends come over from Europe, they think it's going to be rainy in Seattle but it's beautiful. It's a hidden pearl. And people here respect your private life.

Sweden usually don't play good against the poor teams. We like being the underdogs.

You can see players do things in training that aren't a problem but they can't in a game situation. You have to work on it, relax and be brave.

I had hip surgery in America because I'd had problems during my last two years in Europe. They said out there that my hip was broken and I didn't know about it.

I am not a big gym fan.

What I try to focus on is going forward.

When I went to Seattle, it was quite a quiet town and we made it the biggest soccer following in America. We didn't have the paparazzi, though, and I needed that at the time.

It takes time to know what makes an individual player tick.

As a child I could lie in bed and do absolutely nothing for hours but once I decided to do something, big or small, I could not stop until it had been completed.

Real Madrid's Bernabeu was an amazing stadium to play in. It was just on top of you, and such a big stadium.

I loved my time in Japan, and I am grateful to have had the chance to live in Japan and embrace the Japanese culture.

I think Unai did a great job and was a great leader, and a fantastic coach.

Some people thought I was crazy when I quit Europe to go to the U.S., but for me the quality of life and the place I live is important.

I have a house with its own dock and I can take my boat out when I want.

Every time I sprinted 100 per cent, my hamstring broke. But I knew if I didn't sprint 100 per cent, I could keep on playing, so that's what you do. I was just lucky it was discovered in America and I haven't had one problem since. I feel I can run past people again and that feels nice.

I think it's important to learn about the culture of the place where you live.

I do my job - I don't try to seek the spotlight; that's not my way.

If you want to play at Arsenal you need to be top, top, you need precision.

I'm really excited by this opportunity to continue helping develop and work with some of the great young players we have coming through in the first-team environment and to work alongside Unai and his coaching team to help Arsenal win trophies.

When I went to Arsenal, people in Sweden said my game was more suited for Spain or Italy.

I won almost everything there is to win and I look back with great memories.

I go from day to day and game to game.

That's what it's all about. To play better. To win. There's nothing else to it.

I've always been interested in clothes and shopping, and I have a few friends who work in fashion.

My roles for Arsenal and Sweden are very different.

There were a lot of reasons why I wanted to leave Arsenal.

I lived on being a quick player and my hamstring was breaking every time I made a quick move. I wondered what the hell was going on.

Clubs have always wanted to buy me during the summer but I have always stayed loyal because I wanted to stay at Arsenal.

What I say in the dressing room always stays there.

I am not particularly disciplined, but I am stubborn like few.

I played against Ashley Cole all the time in training. For me, he is the best left-back in the world. He was the hardest opponent and I had him every day in training.

I didn't know exactly what to expect when I first came to Seattle but I have to say that how the city and the fans have embraced me has gone beyond my wildest dreams and for that I am forever grateful.

I like it in Seattle.

But I'm constantly surprised by the amount of interest in how I look. It's flattering, but a little weird - at the end of the day, I'm a footballer.

I played team handball when I was a child. It is a very brutal sport.

I had a coach when I was younger who encouraged me to be myself, that is where I was lucky.

It is up to the coaches to tell me how to play.

West Ham have a great academy.

I felt, and it may sound a bit stupid, that I want to try things that are hard.

The problem in Sweden is that, when the players are younger, they are not allowed to develop their own style and skills.

I like entertaining football but, at the same time, you can't concede goals. That's a tricky balance to find.

I was an underwear model for Calvin Klein for a few years. It is not something I wanted to do at first. I never regretted it, but I am a shy person, and to stand there buck naked in front of a camera was scary.

You can be yourself in London. If you are a bit different in the way you dress or look it is no problem.

I played as a 10 and, in Sweden, they let me take as many touches as I could. All of a sudden, I come to Arsenal and I have to play one and two touches - it was a little bit alien to me.

I break out in a rash if I go to the gym; all I did was shave my chest.