Freddie Ljungberg shares what angry Tony Adams once told him before Arsenal vs Tottenham

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Freddie Ljungberg didn’t know much about the rivalry between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur when he first moved to North London – Tony Adams made it clear to him.

The North London derby is one of the most fierce rivalries in English football. Arsenal and Tottenham just don’t like each other, and nobody knows more about the game between the two sides than Adams.

Freddie Ljungberg shares what Tony Adams once told him before Arsenal vs Tottenham

Arsenal signed Freddie Ljungberg from Swedish side Halmstad back in 1998.

Arsene Wenger approved the signing after watching the winger play for Sweden against England in a game where he gave a ‘hell of a lot of problems to Martin Keown‘.

Like most other foreign players at the time, Ljungberg didn’t know much about the rivalries in England. He had no idea just how important the game against Tottenham Hotspur was for an Arsenal player.

The Gunners legend has shared a story now of how he thought an angry Tony Adams was going to ‘kill’ him after he questioned what happens on derby day.

Ljungberg said on Fozcast: “I remember Tony Adams had a chat with me about the Tottenham game – three weeks before the game.

“He said: ‘You make sure you’re not injured that day’. I said: ‘What happens that day?’.”

Speaking about Adams’ reaction, Ljungberg said: “I thought he was going to kill me.”

Ljungberg had a good record against Tottenham

Whatever Tony Adams told Freddie Ljungberg about the North London derby worked as the Swede has an excellent record against Tottenham.

As an Arsenal player, the winger made 13 appearances against Spurs in all competitions and he only ever lost one game. That was in November 1999, a game in which Ljungberg and Martin Keown were both shown red cards.

Ljungberg spent plenty of time at Arsenal as a coach at academy level and even took charge of a few first-team games after Unai Emery was sacked.

We’re sure he would’ve told all the players what playing against Tottenham really means.