Should Arsenal have arranged a welcome for Liverpool?

1. Background: Why the “welcome the champions” gesture?

In a recent Premier League match, Chelsea hosted Liverpool, who had just won the league title. Before the game, the Chelsea players lined up on the sidelines and clapped to welcome the Liverpool players onto the field. This gesture was widely praised by fans and the media.

Many saw it as a sign of respect for their opponents. Therefore, the next time Arsenal play Liverpool away, they may do the same to show their “welcome”.

However, some feel that this gesture is unnecessary and even inappropriate.

2. Troy Deeney’s view: Welcoming champions is pointless

Former Watford striker Troy Deeney shared his thoughts in an interview with The Sun and believes that teams should not line up to applaud opponents who have just won the championship.

He said: “If everything goes as usual, Arsenal could follow Chelsea’s example and applaud Liverpool in their next game. But I really don’t understand the sense behind this behaviour”.

He continued, “To be honest, I don’t think it makes much sense. It’s not really respecting the champions, but rather belittling your own efforts and those of other teams.

III. Why does he think so?

Dyni recalled his own experience as a player. Once his team lost to Manchester City in the FA Cup final. After the game, they saw the Manchester City players receiving their medals and stood up to applaud them.

But he pointed out that it was after the game and it was a natural thing to do. It was not like now where they actively line up to greet the other team before the game starts.

He said, “We applauded because they won, which was only fair, but now this practice of greeting the other team before the game seems strange to me. I never thought I would stand up and applaud another team’s championship.

4. His suggestion: Arsenal should make a change

Deeney also mentioned that his own team, Watford, had never done this before. Even though it was sometimes necessary, he felt it was best not to do it.

He said, “I hope Arsenal will seriously consider this issue, maybe from next season they can stop continuing this ‘polite’ tradition.

He also joked, “Maybe we won’t see those ‘gentlemanly’ welcome scenes anymore.”

5. Summary: Is greeting the champions a good thing or not?

Overall, while some teams and fans believe that welcoming the champions is a friendly gesture, many others, like Dini, believe that it has no practical meaning and may even make their own team appear lacking in confidence.

Soccer is a highly competitive sport. Before the game begins, each team should be focused on winning the game, not on showing respect to others.

Perhaps in the future we will see more teams choosing not to line up to greet champions and instead focusing on how to defeat their opponents.