Jurgen Klopp has hit back at critics of Mikel Arteta’s celebrations of Arsenal’s win over Liverpool, insisting no one should care about the claims of ‘over-celebrating’.
A few weeks after Arsenal’s victory over Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp has reflected on the media reaction to Mikel Arteta’s celebrations that day.
Arteta was understandably delighted when Arsenal put in a third goal to kill the game and secure the three points, racing down the touchline to celebrate.
The manager also pumped his fist in the direction of the supporters after the game, which some took as an imitation of Klopp’s usual celebrations with the Liverpool fans.
Discussing those celebrations, Klopp insisted Arteta didn’t do anything wrong.
“I heard the discussions that Mikel over-celebrated the win against us,” Klopp said. “That definitely did not come from me.
“You do what you do for yourself and your people and what the outside world thinks about it, I couldn’t give a s***, to be honest. And you can write that exactly like that.
“You can make of my celebrations what you want. I didn’t invent fist-pumps and I don’t have the copyright on it and I don’t want it.”
On a related note, Martin Odegaard has spoken to the Arsenal website about his decision to take a picture of club photographer Stuart MacFarlane after the game.
Odegaard was criticised by Jamie Carragher for not just getting down the tunnel after the win, but the Arsenal captain insists MacFarlane deserved a moment in the spotlight.
“That was just something I thought about in the moment,” Odegaard said.
“Like so many of our colleagues, he’s always there with us, he’s been here such a long time, he’s a big supporter who’s been through the ups and downs but is always there for us, capturing those special moments when we celebrate, so I thought why not take one of him this time?
“Hopefully it was a good moment for him too. I’m not too sure how the pictures came out though – maybe I should stick to the football rather than the photography!”