Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has slammed Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta's rather overenthusiastic celebrations after the Gunners' 3-1 win over Liverpool on Sunday.
Arsenal's No. 7 Bukayo Saka opened the scoring at Emirates Stadium on Sunday before a mistake from Gabriel Magalhaes led to an own goal, making it 1-1 at the half-time break. However, a "howler" from Liverpool's Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson Becker allowed Brazilian forward Gabriel Martinelli to put Arsenal in the lead again.
To make things worse for the visiting side, centre-back Ibrahima Konate was shown a second yellow card, before Belgian forward Leandro Trossard came off the bench to make it 3-1 for Arsenal.
Arteta produced ecstatic celebrations every time Arsenal put a goal on the sheet. When his side resumed their lead in the game, the Spaniard sprinted along the pitch while high-fiving home supporters. Arteta also produced Jurgen Klopp-style fist-pump celebrations, attracting more criticism for the same. The Gunners captain, Martin Odegaard, took pictures of the club's photographer, which also did not go down too well with critics.
Mikel Arteta doing Jurgen Klopp’s famous fist pump celebration after the 3-1 victory. 😅pic.twitter.com/gFMRuYGImC
— DailyAFC (@DailyAFC) February 4, 2024
Rio Ferdinand's honest comments on Arteta's celebrations
Ferdinand, player-turned-pundit, was not impressed with Arteta's reaction, saying it appeared as if Arsenal had won the Premier League. The former centre-back was also not impressed with the Gunners' performance even though the North London side clinched a crucial victory.
"I thought Arsenal won the league the way your man was celebrating! Your manager's doing laps [of the stadium]! Your manager has done his 10,000 steps today with them laps round the ground after they won! What's this about?" Ferdinand said on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube show shortly after the game.
On the show, when Ferdinand was asked if Arsenal looked like they were challenging for the Premier League title, the former English defender replied: "No. No, no, no."
"I didn't feel that. The celebrations that I saw didn't correlate with what I felt about the outcome of what this game meant. It felt like you guys [think you] are on to win the league now, what I saw," said Ferdinand.
The ex-Man Utd star went on to call Arsenal "Deluded. Deluded FC, you're deluded".
Arteta celebrating the Arsenal goal like we just won the league 😂💯 pic.twitter.com/0aDbf5cTna
— SME Business Solutions (@WeFCBusiness) February 4, 2024
Arsenal closed the gap to Liverpool to just two points with their latest win. However, Liverpool's loss also mean that if defending champions Manchester City win both their games in hand, they would go a point clear at the top of the 2023-24 Premier League table.
Referring to the same, Ferdinand said: "You shouldn't even be worrying about Liverpool, It's Man City you should be worrying about! Two games in hand."
Van Dijk takes "responsibility" for mix-up with Alisson
Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Van Dijk took full responsibility for the error involving him and goalkeeper Becker at Emirates Stadium, which he called the "turning point" in the match.
"It was a tough day. The [goal for] 2-1, I take full responsibility for that, I should have done better and made a better decision and it hurts, especially for me and the rest of the team. It was a big turning point.
"We were having opportunities, we were dominant, the atmosphere [at the Emirates] was a bit nervous. I should just try clear it but I made the wrong decision, These things don't happen too often but I will recover and I will take responsibility," the Dutchman said.
Van Dijk also added that he wasn't looking to make excuses as it was a "split second" decision, where he chose to let the ball bounce off his body.
"Things happen. But I will try to make sure it never happens again," added Van Dijk.
Jamie Carragher slams Liverpool: 'It was schoolboy stuff'
While the Netherlands international was sorry about his mistake, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher labelled the incident "schoolboy stuff" from the Reds.
"Van Dijk has just got to header it, don't let it bounce. It is schoolboy stuff. Yes, he [Martinelli] nudges him into the goalkeeper which puts Alisson off but Martinelli is well in his right to do that.
"This is something you learn at the bottom level. Just deal with it. They have been fantastic for Liverpool but that was a howler," Carragher said.
Liverpool are next in action on Saturday as they host Burnley in the Premier League at Anfield.
