Arsenal’s players have come in for criticism for the manner in which they celebrated their win over Liverpool, but did they really take things too far?
The celebration police are out in force after Arsenal’s win over Liverpool, and they’re taking names.
Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Richard Keys were among those who all claimed that the Gunners might well have been overdoing it after their 3-1 success over the league leaders, with Mikel Arteta sprinting around on the touchline, Martin Odegaard borrowing a photographer’s camera and the Emirates Stadium representing something akin to Popworld at closing time.
The suggestions that Arsenal in some way ‘overcelebrated’ are frankly ridiculous (Opinion). It was a huge win for the Gunners, who would have been out of the title race without those precious three points. They were well within their rights to celebrate however they liked, especially in front of their own fans. If the shoe was on the other foot and it was Liverpool celebrating a win at Anfield, there would not be the same level of criticism.
Odegaard’s moment with the photographer was one that just signals how close the Gunners are to their fans and staff. In a time where players are increasingly criticised for being ‘robots’, it was a really touching moment. The accusations being levelled at Arteta were also a joke. Everyone connected with the Gunners when Trossard’s goal went in and the Spaniard was only releasing that energy.
In other words, Sunday’s victory against Liverpool could be a transformative result in the race for the title and Mikel Arteta is well within his rights to celebrate. Football is about enjoying the highs, while also fully feeling the gutting lows that the ‘beautiful game’ has to offer from time to time. Only in a time of every reaction being scrutinized on social media can a moment of such joy be portrayed as a negative. Yes, some may argue that Arteta may have been wiser to bottle up his wild gesticulations for when the Gunners actually win a trophy but why not now?
Relish every second of a win against a fearsome title rival, make those memories now and then just add to them as and when the title moment potentially comes. After all, Klopp has done very much the same down the years at Liverpool so is unlikely to have a problem with it regardless.