Thread by @dopegooner

Why Arsenal Are Being Chased by the Celebration Police, a thread:

The last several weeks have featured a few occurrences in which current or former Premier League players have come out and complained about Arsenal celebrating too much after winning away matches.

Arsenal have been maligned by these players for celebrating these away wins with their traveling supporters “as if they won the league”. Now, that might reek of bitterness, but one has to wonder why only Arsenal appear to be subject to these kinds of complaints.

So why are wet blankets like Neves, Young, and Agbonlahor popping up now to chastise Arsenal for celebrating away wins? Why are scenes of jubilance with teammates and traveling supporters suddenly unbecoming? There are two main reasons for this:

1) For years, Arsenal were unfortunately a bit of a banter club. This is due to a plethora of mistake-prone players at the end of the Wenger era, Emery’s rather scandalous tenure as head coach, the club losing a social media battle against Mesut Özil, and the Super League fiasco.

Arsenal’s current team is far from that. In Saka, Smith Rowe, and Martinelli, the squad sports some of the best U23 talent in the world, as well as a bevy of underrated signings who have improved the team into a strong top-four candidate.

With the youngest squad and manager in the English top flight, Arsenal have won 10 of their last 13 matches in the league. In the three winless matches against Burnley, City, and Liverpool, Arsenal were still fairly impressive, if not dominant. Arsenal are a good team now.

But perceptions are hard to change. And most outside of the club and its fanbase are still of the belief that Arsenal are a team that make headlines for the wrong reasons. So when on-pitch performances can’t be easily critiqued, people will find something else to talk about.

The perception will change with time as Arsenal re-establish themselves among the elite clubs. Many Liverpool fans can describe similar experiences regarding such criticisms in the early Klopp days. But until that perception changes, such empty putdowns should be called out.

2) The players calling Arsenal out for celebrating away wins can’t relate to the Gunners’ current situation. Wolves have fallen out of their brief CL contention and aren’t favorites for a Europa League spot, either. Villa are mired in midtable due to a mediocre season.

Arsenal, on the other hand, are overachieving. They find themselves as the current odd-on favorites for fourth place, and with 10 games to go stand a real chance of returning to the Champions League for the first time since 2017. Every win is a step closer to that accomplishment.

But the Premier League is hyper-competitive, and very few matches in the domestic season are straightforward. Every team poses their own threats. Finishing near the top end of the table requires tremendous talent, near-perfect focus, and a slight bit of luck.

So when the final whistle blows after holding on to a 1-0 lead away to Wolves or Villa, two talented sides with good managers, it’s natural for the youngest team in the league to feel relief and excitement over continuing to satisfy those requirements.

Arsenal know how massive qualifying for the Champions League is. It would accelerate the rebuild of the team into a relevant side in terms of top-tier European football, and change the trajectory of the club for several years to come.

On top of that, Arsenal’s squad is not the only thing being rebuilt. It was not so long ago that the club’s relationship with the fans was depressingly broken. At times over the last several years, the atmosphere around the club and at the Emirates was quite toxic.

But now, most of the Arsenal faithful have bought in. The away support for the club has consistently been fantastic, often louder than the home crowd when Arsenal travel to other clubs. Arteta and his players have fostered a strong camaraderie with Gooners.

Arteta and the players know how important the support of the Arsenal faithful is, and how much commitment they are asking of them. So why wouldn’t the team celebrate these wins with traveling Gooners? They are a part of this process as well.

With all that in mind, of course Neves, Young, and Agbonlahor don’t empathize with Arsenal. They’re not part of something exciting and special brewing at their clubs. Their fans haven’t been convinced by an exciting project at hand. Greatness isn’t just over the horizon for them.

So keep celebrating those wins. Let others be jealous and bitter. Nothing is promised in football, so if we can’t celebrate the good times, then what’s the bloody point?

If you made it down here, thanks so much for reading this thread. If it’s successful, I can make it a regular thing. In the meantime, retweets/likes and follows are much appreciated! #COYG

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