Jason Cundy has criticized Myles Lewis-Skelly for copying Erling Haaland’s celebration, arguing that Arsenal “haven’t earned the right” to mock Manchester City. The Arsenal star mimicked Haaland’s celebration after scoring in Arsenal’s 5-1 win over Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium. Cundy warned that this could lead to future retaliation from City players.
Cundy’s comments:
“If I had to say to you now what’s the biggest needle in the game right now I’d say it’s Gabriel and Haaland, it’s only recent, it’s only this season,” Cundy told talkSPORT. “There’s no real needle, is there? There’s a little bit between the two clubs but that goes historically back. And I love that… a centre-half versus a centre-forward, all for that, Gabriel shouting in his face, it’s not wise when there’s only two minutes on the clock, pick and choose your battles.”
When it came to Lewis-Skelly, Cundy stated, “Wind your neck in. Arsenal fans will love it and I get why they love it, ‘he’s one of us, he’s one of our own’. Fine. Haaland’s completed football. And be careful what you do at that age. I’m not so sure it’s wise for him to be doing that. Run off, celebrate your goal, do what you need to do, he’s a brilliant young player, he’s going to have a stellar career by the looks of it, he looks top drawer.”
However, Cundy also cautioned: “I’m not convinced it’s the wisest thing to do because there’s many years to come… Just be careful what battles you take. Also, they’re Arsenal and what have they done in the last 20 years? Seriously, how can they be taking that battle there?”
Further thoughts from Cundy:
“You’re a good side, a really good team, you showed that at the weekend, you’re probably going to be second again. When you win something then you can shout from the houses, then you can start doing all this housery. It’s built on nothing. It comes from Arteta, he loves to promote it, it’s fine, Arsenal fans will love it, I totally get it.”
“I watched Chelsea under Jose [Mourinho], Jose won things, Jose won back to back Premier Leagues, he was there. You earn the right, and right now, Arsenal haven’t earned the right to be doing that sort of housery. It’s fine, do it, see where it ends up, come back at the end of the season. If they win the Premier League or the Champions League then we’ll have this conversation. But right now you’re just pups, you’re pups and you’re messing around with the big boys who have been there.”
Concluding Cundy’s opinion:
“Haaland’s got all the medals, he’s got the [Premier League] badge on the side, it was a bad day at the office. This is the trouble with Arsenal fans, it’s all about the now. Trouble is, when was the last time they had ‘the now’? Seriously, when was it the last time it was ‘the now’? When was the last time they went, ‘we’re the big dogs’? I’ll tell you what they do, Arsenal, they’re very good at winning little battles, they don’t win the war. It’s true, that’s exactly what Arsenal are.”
“Man City… you’re talking about a guy who has scored 250 career league goals and Lewis-Skelly is sitting there doing that? Wind your neck in, come on, let’s have it right.”
