5 players & managers who have jumped on the ‘stay humble’ meme in 2024-25
If the 2024-25 season will be remembered for anything, it will likely be the almighty beef between Manchester City and Arsenal after Erling Haaland’s now iconic “stay humble” comment to Mikel Arteta back in September.
Those two words were thrown back at Haaland in the wake of Arsenal’s 5-1 victory over Man City in the return fixture, with signs and shirts donning the slogan in The Emirates crowd before the PA blared out Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Humble’ at full-time.
Now this particularly generic and banal bit of footballer speak, the kind of thing you imagine players are told to say on day one of media training, has grown a life of its own. We’ve identified five occasions in which players and managers have gone viral for saying “stay humble” following Haaland this season.
Anthony Gordon
“It is important for us to stay humble now,” the Newcastle United forward told Sky Sports after scoring in their 2-0 League Cup semi-final second-leg victory over Arsenal.
“[The final] will be a big occasion but it’s so far away. It feels amazing. A proper team performance and we got the win.
“Our fans are never in question, they make it so difficult for the opposition and we did it the right way. We had a game plan we thought would work. Everyone knows we press.”
Fans online are convinced that Gordon was aiming a subtle dig at Arsenal after Newcastle’s resounding 4-0 aggregate victory, but if he did it likely wasn’t intentional.
To us it just sounds like the kind of on-brand messaging drilled into the players by Eddie Howe.
Alexander Isak
“Personally, I’m enjoying myself but it all comes down to what you do as a team,” Isak told Newcastle’s official website after picking up the club’s Player of the Month award back in December.
“Over the past couple of months in particular, I feel like we’ve put in some real Newcastle United performances, playing with bravery, energy and intensity – both at home and away.
“I’m really happy with how things are going for myself and the team at the moment. We’ve really upped our level which is going to benefit in the next half of the season. It’s important that we stay humble, continue to work hard and start the New Year in the same way that we ended 2024.”
Some Arsenal fans are convinced the Sweden international is destined to join Arteta’s project as the final piece of the jigsaw, while others on Reddit took it as a savage drive-by.
We’re less convinced it was intentional, given the general tone of the interview was so bland it could’ve been generated by an AI algorithm comprised of a thousand other Player of the Month reaction quotes.
Mohamed Salah
“It is great, but we focus on each game and hopefully we carry on like that,” 2024-25’s MVP told Amazon Prime after scoring in Liverpool’s 3-1 comeback win over Leicester City on Boxing Day.
“It feels different, but the most important thing is we need to stay humble. This one is very special, hopefully we win the Premier League and for this club it is something I dream of.”
Liverpool have maintained their relatively comfortable spot at the top of the Premier League summit ever since, proving that Salah’s attitude – or Haaland’s, originally? – are words to live by.
Fabian Hurzeler
The Brighton manager spoke to Sky Sports in the wake of Brighton’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City in November:
“Manchester City is one of the best teams in the world, Pep Guardiola one of the best coaches, but victory only gives three points and that’s why it’s so important to be happy, proud, gain self-confidence, but it’s so important to also stay humble..”
‘Top quality sh*thousery,’ was the general gist of the reaction on Reddit once again, after Haaland once again tasted defeat amid City’s early-season collapse following their 2-2 draw against Arsenal, the game in which key man Rodri did his ACL.
Again, we’re not totally won over by the argument the mild-mannered 31-year-old German coach was aiming to stir the pot against the reigning champions. But it’s a funny idea.
READ NEXT: 5 managers Pep Guardiola has had beef with over the years: Mourinho, Simeone…
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every 2020s Golden Boot winner from Europe’s top five leagues?
Ilkay Gundogan
“To stay in the title race probably yes because 11 points would be a huge gap. It’s still early in the season,” the veteran midfielder said ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Liverpool in late November, a game they lost.
“There are still a lot of games to play and a lot of things can happen, not just on our side but at every other team.
“But obviously we have to look at ourselves and try to do the things we can do better, as quickly as possible.
“We take it, stay humble, head down and try to put in the work in the next few days and prepare as well as possible for a tough game.”
You could read that as Gungodan backing up his team-mate by throwing shade at Arteta.
You should also note that he’s used the same phrase back in 2021, long before anyone took notice of the phrase. Sorry if we’ve p*ssed on anyone’s chips.