The father of Arsenal's mascot at West Ham on Sunday has defended the players after they copped criticism for their conduct towards his daughter.
The Gunners were away at the London Stadium and Martin Odegaard led the starting XI out alongside the young girl. The once in a lifetime experience is one that lives with individuals for years and the girl wanted to remember the occasion by getting a shirt signed.
Prior to the game, she waited for the players as they walked in and they, one by one, signed a red home shirt. However many of them kept their headphones in before simply passing the pen to their next team-mate, without interacting with the mascot.
The club posted the video on their social media alongside the caption: "Making memories with our mascot".
The comments section however was filled with people questioning why not a single player said hello to the mascot. Others wondered how they would act had the cameras not been rolling, while Piers Morgan took aim at the likes of Odegaard, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale and star winger Bukayo Saka on his social media account.
"Come on guys, at least one of you say hello to her?!!" fumed Morgan on Twitter.
Arsenal fan Laura Woods, speaking on her talkSPORT show, labelled the clip "disappointing" and "shocking".
"It doesn't take a lot just to acknowledge somebody and [give] a little smile," Woods said.
"It's quite symptomatic that video, I think, of football now or footballers now. What's a bit disappointing is I actually messaged the club because the club put it out and I think they put it out thinking 'they've all stopped and signed the shirt, this is great'.
BBC presenter Nick Knowles lambasted the players, writing: "I suggest @Arsenal you get her and her family back and give your players another go at being decent human beings - admittedly they’d have to be coached into it but it might be something that sticks with some of them if it’s pointed out."
The father however, who was in the video with his daughter, was full of praise for the experience.
He said on social media: "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."
Gunners captain Odegaard was on the scoresheet early on to make it 2-0 after Gabriel Jesus' opener, which came before the home side's fightback. A first-half penalty cut the deficit and, after Bukayo Saka missed from the spot, Jarrod Bowen was able to equalise.
It was the second time in the space of a week that Arsenal had led a 2-0 lead slip and ended up with a point, which has allowed Manchester City to further close the gap. The Norwegian bemoaned their latest setback as he admitted they played into West Ham's hands.
He told Sky Sports: "A lot of the same things to last week, started well but then we stopped, allowed them to play on their qualities. We gave them the game they wanted, we gave them hope, and that's on us. We have to look forward now. We started to do a lot of stupid things on the ball, we allowed them to play on the long balls.
Odegaard also added: "We have to remember we are still top of the league with everything in our own hands. The same mindset, same mentality to make sure we win the next one."
