Mikel Arteta has hit out at unfair criticism of his Arsenal squad following one interaction with a mascot at the weekend.

Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta (C) celebrates as he looks at West Ham United's Scottish manager David Moyes (L) at the end of the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium, in London on May 1, 2022.(Photo by IAN KINGTON/IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta (C) celebrates as he looks at West Ham United’s Scottish manager David Moyes (L) at the end of the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium, in London on May 1, 2022.(Photo by IAN KINGTON/IKIMAGES/AFP via Getty Images)

As usual, Arsenal had a lucky mascot in attendance for their game against West Ham at the weekend, with the youngster receiving a signed match shirt, spending time with the players, and walking out onto the pitch with club captain Martin Odegaard.

But when Arsenal posted a video of the mascot and her dad getting their shirt signed, rival fans tried to dig the squad out for not interacting with her more.

This was an issue that existed entirely in the minds of people on Twitter.

In reality, the family had a great day, and further clips later emerged of Odegaard talking to the youngster and giving her a hug before taking her out onto the pitch.

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Other families of mascots have reported that the mascots get the chance to meet the players probably once they’re settled and inside, and they often get to take pictures out on the pitch as well.

The mascot’s father took to Twitter to say: “My daughter had a lovely time as Mascot for Arsenal. There was only a small window to meet the players and she enjoyed it very much.

“Odegaard is her favourite player so to hold his hand onto the pitch was very special.”

In fact, it seems the only people to put a negative slant on the day were the people involved in the backlash against Arsenal’s social media clip, with the father later posting:

“We’ve tried to explain to my daughter what all the noise is about. Was mostly fine until we had reporters knock on the door. Hoping this doesn’t ruin her interest in Arsenal.”

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 12: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Arsenal FC at Craven Cottage on March 12, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, looks on prior to the Premier League match between Fulham FC and Arsenal FC at Craven Cottage on March 12, 2023. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Addressing the issue in his most recent press conference, Mikel Arteta confirmed they’d spoken to the family and had no issues to report.

“We spoke to their parents and the day that they had, and they had the most amazing day,” Arteta said.

“So you’ve just seen a fragment of a picture. What happened before that, afterwards, nobody saw that. I think it’s not fair.”

In the end, it seems the people pretending to care about a young mascot’s experience to score Twitter points ended up causing her family more harm than good.

The only change likely to come from their whining is that we probably won’t see as many clips posted of the Arsenal mascots in the future.

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