Arsenal fans being told to calm their celebrations needs to stop.(Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Arsenal right to be bored with Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville's latest celebration complaints

The celebration police are back out for Arsenal as pundits told to stop sucking the joy out of the sport.

05 Feb 2024, 15:02 by Tom Canton · football.london

I find myself compelled to write in defence of Arsenal often but perhaps none more so in support of the players, manager and fans in their ongoing scrutiny regarding what has been coined the Celebration Police. What once began as something as a satirical and borderline pathetic argument to have an excuse to bash the behaviour of some but not others seemingly dependant on the crest they represent, it has now grown into a full-blown trend.

None more so than Arsenal face the judgement of the Celebration Police and after the 3-1 win over Liverpool, the force came out in perhaps its greatest incarnation. On Sky Gary Neville described the celebrations - which included skipper Martin Odegaard holding a camera and taking a picture of photographer Stuart MacFarlane – as “immature”. Ironic.

Whereas Jamie Carragher took to social media to quote Neil Warnock, he claims jokingly, and write whilst quote-posting a video of Odegaard: “By all means enjoy it, but enjoy it by being disciplined!” Carragher bit back at criticism from the post from the likes of Jan Aage Fjortoft and whilst we cannot be sure it was indeed written in jest in the climate it was ill-advised for sure.

Seemingly self-proclaimed enemy number one of Mikel Arteta, Richard Keys, went on a near-monthly tirade again at the Spaniard. Saying on beIN Sports: “I just wish he'd have a little more class about him when Liverpool handed them the second goal, and the third one, off he goes again.”

It is tiring, isn’t it? You have to question the desire to suck the joy out of everything – a point that former Arsenal striker Ian Wright raised as he took to social media in defence of the club’s celebrations.

To put this in perspective, this was Arsenal’s biggest game of the season. Liverpool are top of the league and this was a must-win match for Arteta’s side and they won it with a dominant display and some individual brilliance too.

That is the short story, the long story gets somewhat more serious and there is an element which these days too few are willing to discuss. Football is an escape for many, and for those ninety-plus minutes, nothing else in the world matters.

From health, to financial, to social and other challenges people are united by this sport. We may not all agree on everything, but certainly, as supporters of our club, we agree we want them to win and so when they do we’re entitled to celebrate.

No one has the right to take that away from you and why on Earth would they want to? When can we just get back to the business of football and start to discuss the actions on the field during the game with the ball in play rather than how goals are celebrated, or how fans have reacted and so on and so forth?

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