Arsenal interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg says his side’s confidence is at rock bottom after the Gunners slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Brighton at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.
Neal Maupay’s 80th-minute header condemned Ljungberg to defeat in his first home game in charge of the North London outfit.
Arsenal have now gone nine matches without a win, their worst run in over 42 years.
“They look very short on confidence,” Ljungberg told reporters after the game.
“In the first half they were scared to get the ball and a bit scared to move, they were just standing still. That’s something we need to talk about.
“They need to have a win, we need to dig out a win and get them some confidence. They can do it because they showed it in the beginning of the second half and they did it really well for 20 minutes. It’s hard to say that when you lose at home, but they were very good in that little spell.
“It’s never easy when you sack a manager and you’re low on confidence,” Ljungberg added.
“We started really well at Norwich. We started the second half really well [against Brighton] and I was sure we were going to win the game and get going again.
“We get a sucker punch on a counter or as they play down one side. It’s hard to take but we keep plugging away.”
