Gabriel Magalhaes has become the latest player to defend Arsenal’s celebrations following last weekend’s win over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium.
Despite pulling off an impressive 3-1 win over Premier League leaders Liverpool last Sunday, most of the focus has been on Arsenal’s celebration of the victory, rather than the performance that earned it.
Gabriel Magalhaes responded to the ‘celebration police’ in an interview this week, dismissing the idea that the Gunner should have been more reserved.
“Celebrations are part of football,” Gabriel said. “If we didn’t have any celebrations, then the game would be no fun.
“I think against Liverpool, we played against a huge team in a huge game. We’d worked so hard all week to face them and then we got the result we wanted.
“So, of course, we are going to be happy that we won. When you win a big game like this it’s only natural to celebrate.
“The next day it was back to the drawing board for us – with the focus on West Ham. That’s going to be another very difficult game. We need the three points just as much.”
Martin Odegaard also spoke out to defend Arsenal’s celebrations, after he was involved in one of the key incidents being criticised.
Odegaard took a picture of club photographer Stuart MacFarlane, a role-reversal from the club captain, with former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher saying of the moment: “Just get down the tunnel, you’ve won a game, it’s three points.”
Odegaard defended the team’s actions in a post-match interview soon afterwards.
“I think everyone who loves football, who understands football, they know how much it means to win this game,” Odegaard said.
“And if you’re not allowed to celebrate when you win a game, when are you allowed to celebrate?
“We are happy with the win and we’ll stay humble. We keep working hard and we prepare for the next one — but you have to be happy when you win.”
Mikel Arteta then addressed the issue in his pre-West Ham press conference, and he was similarly dismissive.
“I didn’t know anything about [the criticism],” Arteta began. “But I love it (post-match celebrations) – I’ve seen [away] managers at the Emirates on their knees, on the pitch.
“I’ve seen very big managers walking onto the pitch, I’ve seen managers going across the touchline. I’ve seen that all in the Premier League.
“Personally, I love it because it brings such passion and emotion to the game. When it’s done in a natural and unique way, I think it’s great. It’s my opinion and a lot of people may have something very different to mine.”