Mikel Arteta has responded to criticism of Arsenal’s celebrations following the club’s 3-1 win over Liverpool last weekend.
Arsenal kept alive their title ambitions with an impressive win over the league leaders at the Emirates, with Arteta and club captain Martin Odegaard leading some notable post-match celebrations on the pitch.
Arteta orchestrated the crowd with Jurgen Klopp-style fist pumps after the final whistle and Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones this week gave his view on Arsenal’s celebrations.
“The gaffer, the way he fist pumps the crowd, that’s kind of our thing. If they want to be stealing our stuff, it shows we’re on the right path if they’re copying us,” Jones said to the BBC.
“They can have their moment and stuff, but there’s a long way to go.”
Arteta was asked for his view on the celebrations and said he has no regrets about savouring a ‘great day’ for his side.
“They told me today. I didn’t know anything about it. I love it because I’ve seen managers at the Emirates on their knees, managers going across the pitch,” Arteta said at his pre-match press conference, ahead of facing West Ham.
“I love it because it brings so much passion and emotion to the game. It’s my opinion, a lot of people may have something a lot different to mine. People are entitled to have their opinion. When you do something publicly some people will think positively, some negatively. Behave how you think is right to behave, we don’t want to lose that.
“Managers and teams celebrate a lot. It’s so tough to win in this league. It was a big match for us, you could tell from the stadium the atmosphere, it was a great day.”
