North London is Red.
If you a Spurs fan then surely you would have heard this statement a few hundred times during the course of the week after Arsenal humiliated Spurs 4-2 in the season’s first derby.
The Lilywhites were 2-1 up at half-time but the Gunners dug deep and ended up scoring three goals in the second half.
And after the match, a number of the Arsenal players went on social media to brag about their victory and rub it into the Spurs players.
While a number of the Spurs men put up a brave face after the defeat, one man who was clearly not happy with all the social engagement was manager Mauricio Pochettino.
“Personally, I don’t like it,” Pochettino said.
“Obviously if you win a trophy like I won when I was a player, it’s a moment to celebrate. For me — this is my mentality and I don’t want to say it’s right or wrong — I love to celebrate in private and not make it public. I love to celebrate the things with your teammates.
“If you win, of course, celebrate and show the fans you’re happy — it’s fantastic — but when you win a trophy when you win something special.
“In the end, Arsenal and Tottenham, we are on 30 points each. We’re in a similar position, still with a lot of things to play for. But to be sporting enemies is a fantastic thing and I don’t want to criticise what people want to do.
Still buzzing from yesterday! 👊🏼 Unbelievable atmosphere at the Emirates, these are the moments that we play this game for! North London belongs to us! 🚩🔴 #proudtobegunner #gibgäs #SeoKol pic.twitter.com/uIvagqeIMd
— Sead Kolašinac (@seadk6) December 3, 2018
“Today it’s normal. Look what happened in social media. I go with my dog to the park, Trent Park, and the most important thing [for other people] is not to share the walk with your dog, it’s to share with your followers. I’m of the older generation. I accept the new technology but I try to keep a bit of that away.
“When people celebrate like this, it’s because they respect you and see you as a big club,
“When we arrived here five years ago, the derby was a little bit ‘well it’s normally Arsenal always above Tottenham.’ But now the last two seasons we were above [them], and how they celebrate, of course, it’s a derby but you start to see [those social media posts].
“It was a massive win for them, of course, and for us, it was a massive disappointment — but it showed the respect that we got in the last few years with our performances, with our results.
I love tap ins but come on put some RESPEK on my name 😆😂😂😂😂💪🏽 #NorthLondonIsRed #WeAreTheArsenal #COYG pic.twitter.com/pAxsVoIADn
— Aubameyang P-E (@Aubameyang7) December 2, 2018
“[Our chief scout] Steve Hitchen was at the Liverpool game against Everton and was watching our game before in the stadium — and when Arsenal scored the third goal all the Liverpool fans celebrated like Arsenal celebrated after.
“It’s clear we’re doing something good. I love it when the people celebrate when they beat you. I don’t like it when the people don’t celebrate because it’s normal to beat Tottenham.”
Pochettino was more furious with Arsenal’s celebration given that his team had a humble reaction after they beat Chelsea a fortnight back.
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