"If we read everything that was written about us we’d probably have to stay in bed a lot of days. It’s part of it, I think it’s great that people have the ability to communicate on so many platforms and give their opinions. The only thing I’m asking is to be respectful, you know? Do it in a respectful way, you don’t have to batter anybody or try to hurt anybody," Mikel Arteta told Arsenal.com ahead of Leeds clash.
"Just give your opinion with the best intentions and when it’s constructive I think everybody can take criticism. It’s part of our job to look at it and think and reflect on it but when people just have the intention of hurting, that’s when it becomes a little bit silly in my opinion.
"I'd prefer not to [speak about me getting online abuse] but I think we're all exposed to that in this industry. That's why I'd prefer not to read it because it would affect me personally much more the moment that somebody wants to harm my family.
"Because it happened, the club was aware of it and we tried to do something about it. That's it. We have to live with it. It's not going to stop tomorrow, we know that, but medium or long-term can we do something about it? That's what I am pushing for."
Joe Willock earlier spoke about the pressure young players face - and that it's made far worse by social media. We are hoping something's done about it, at least where the players and managers are tagged directly and threatened.
It's an ugly but common phenomenon among keyboard warriors that does little but give them room to express their extreme opinions and vent their spleen. There should certainly be policies in place to deal with extreme cases.
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