Uproar over a celebration?
Football being fickle, or is there more to it?
Football, famous for a variety of aspects. One of those aspects is being able to celebrate your team, country or player in various situations. England winning the World Cup in 1966 sparked nationwide celebrations. Real Madrid winning the Champions League in the 2021/22 season would've caused euphoria amongst their fan-base. You get the idea. If you win something, you'll want to celebrate that fact.
This week in the world of football, Arsenal came under scrutiny from a pair of pundits, who I'd rather not mention to keep their clicks to a minimum. The Gunners entered a Premier League match against newly promoted Fulham. Fulham had enjoyed a good start to the season, even taking points off Liverpool. Arsenal had a perfect winning start in their first three games. A victory over Fulham would see them earn their fourth straight Premier League win. Now, if you are a keen football fan and know your stuff then you'll have noticed a renaissance period at Arsenal. Atmosphere is good and the club are getting some deserved results.
Fast forward to full time and Arsenal came out 2-1 victors. However, they did go 1-0 down, but showed the grit to turn the score around and get the winner in the 86th minute. The whistle blows and celebrations ensue from the players, to the staff and of course the fans. No harm in that right? Fourth straight win, remain top of the table and won by showing good resolve. What was about to follow took what was an established joke and sent it into orbit. When news of these over exuberant celebrations reached the eyes of the two pundits I mentioned earlier, all hell broke loose.
They couldn't believe their eyes that Arsenal were celebrating their victory as much as they did. They likened it to them essentially winning a trophy, despite it being a home victory against a newly promoted side that they struggled to beat. They maintained that it wasn't necessarily the fans they had an issue with, despite them gasping and muttering while a clip of the Arsenal fans celebrating played in front of them. It was the players and the manager that were taking it too far. They insisted that they weren't disrespecting Fulham, despite them repeatedly stating it's only Fulham. If you want to find the clip online, I'm sure a quick google search of Arsenal vs Fulham will generate what you need.
The question is, does there come a time when a team does over celebrate? There is an argument to say yes. If you're Arsenal and you beat a team in the lower leagues, in a cup competition, if you then engage in a pitch invasion and party hard into the night, chances are you're over celebrating. But, winning a Premier League game under any circumstance should be enjoyed. Jubilant players and fans, smiles all around and cheering to go with it is perfectly normal and expected. How it managed to turn into a week long saga that still has people giving their opinions about it, is beyond me.
We all know that comments made by pundits can rile up certain fan-bases. That's why they do it, it generates views and exposure. However, everyone is still entitled to their own opinion, no matter how much you may disagree with it. I'm certain there is no opinion out there that is 100% agreed upon by everyone, it's just unrealistic. These pundits are also paid to give their views, and probably paid that little bit extra to give a controversial few. We simply can't lose sight of the fact that just because you don't agree with an opinion, it doesn't make any less valid.
As an Arsenal fan I did sit there and watch the clip in disbelief. How dare you accuse a team of over celebrating after winning a game against an in-form team. If Arsenal lost a game in similar circumstances then I'd fully expect the opposition to act exactly how we did. In a world where there is very little to cheer about, don't start criticising those who take part. To my surprise there's plenty of neutral fans that came to the defence of Arsenal and simply suggested that these pundits need a reality check and there are things to be enjoyed.
Arsenal went on to win their next game to make it five straight wins out of five. The full time celebrations were much the same as they were against Fulham, as expected.
Let me know what you think. Did Arsenal go over the top, or did they act accordingly?
About the Creator
Ethan Ward
Trying to rediscover my passion for writing, one post at a time!
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