Mikel Arteta has fired back at Rwanda president Paul Kagame's criticism of Arsenal following their defeat to Brentford last weekend.
The Gunners suffered a nightmare Premier League opener against the newly-promoted side as Thomas Frank's men claimed a 2-0 victory.
The result put the Gunners in the firing line with many questioning if last season's finish outside the European places is going to be a one-off.
Rwanda's president Kagame even had a go at the north London club with a series of tweets as he claimed that fans should not accept "mediocrity."
Rwanda are one of Arsenal's sponsors with the 'Visit Rwanda' logo printed on the sleeve of their shirt.
Will Arsenal bounce back from their opening day defeat to Brentford? Comment below
Following the defeat, Kagame wrote: "What?? It's football, it's a loss of Arsenal at/to Brentford. Brentford deserved to win and they did.
"The game itself aside Arsenal and the fans don't deserve to kind of get used to this....NO!!! I say this as one of the big fans of Arsenal. The change has taken too long to come!
"It's been a struggle of about decade(s) -ups & downs - more downs until this point. Can't we have a plan that really works?? One part to look at is how we deal in the market- players we buy to execute the plan. The touch & go mentality does not bring change.
"We just must NOT excuse or Accept mediocrity. A team has to be built with purpose to win, win, win. So that when we lose....it was not to be expected! I am sure we all know on whose shoulders the heaviest burden rests.
"I hope they know too or even accept it!!!"
And Arteta has since responded to the remarks and reckons they were very "disrespectful."
He said: "I’m talking about the lack of clarity in the messages and using moments to try to come and using some very disrespectful ways to describe certain things. That’s what I'm saying. Nothing new.
"It’s not about pointing, it’s about expressing the feelings that are so obvious in moments like this."
