Arsenal's Sokratis lashed out at club's critics, targeting team members as well as manager Unai Emery while acknowledging that criticism can be beneficial for improving performance but critics do not touch them mentally.
"I hear that everyone speaks about the system, the manager. The manager tries every day to give the best to us, to the team," Goal quoted Sokratis, as saying.
"I think the critics are good to hear, to improve, but they do not touch us mentally. We are a big family and we are all together, we stay all together. We are here to give the best for the club, for the fans and for ourselves also. I think that the biggest point is that we have to stay focused," he added.
Sokratis's comments came after Arsenals handed Valencia a 3-1 defeat in the first leg of Europa League's semi-final. Moreover, the 30-year old backed his fellow players saying that they are not robots.
"In one week, for example, [Laurent] Koscielny makes a mistake or I make a mistake or [Shkodran] Mustafi the same, Nacho [Monreal] too, we are people and not robots," Sokratis said.
Arsenal will face Valencia for the Europa League's second leg of semi-finals on May 10.