VAR leaves the Gunners feeling robbed
Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal squad have again come under the spotlight after their 2-0 loss against West Ham on Thursday night. In what started off to look like it was going to be all Arsenal’s night was halted after 13 minutes of play, when an attempted clearance from Gabriel and Zinchenko landed into the path of Bowen who squared the ball into Soucek who put the Hammers 1-0 in front.
After a lengthy check from VAR the goal was given and Arsenal were given the short end of the stick, going behind 1-0. In my opinion and from what I’ve seen of the replays and the countless screenshots going viral on social media, the ball was out of play before Bowen squared it into the box and shouldn’t have stood. Now I understand why it was given, technically, because Bowen’s body was in the way of the camera, you can’t 100% confirm the ball went out of play and after all the drama this year over ball’s being in and out the play, I get why they’ve given it, but I don’t agree.
With the same thing happening, you’d expect the Premier League to come in and do something about it but they don’t seem to be even thinking about a way to fix these issues. In a lot of sports around the world, there’s cameras inside of goalposts to make it easier for officials to make the right call, in some sports there’s cameras that fly over entire stadiums so that they have all angles and decision’s like these are easier to make, but with the Premier League, it’s like they don’t want to make these changes that will actually help the game rather than hinder it.
The same goes for the offside technology that was used at the World Cup and is used in leagues across the world, why haven’t the Premier League invested into it? Something that’s virtually impossible to get wrong, something that doesn’t rely on humans, who clearly make errors from time to time, but they chose to stay with the outdated system and wonder why there’s constant problems.
For me it feels dodgy, I can’t understand why they wouldn’t make their lives easier and the game better for doing so. With the game constantly evolving and rules being changed every year, why can’t they make changes that will actually improve the game over hindering it? If they can’t get it right, then why even have it at all?
Not only that, but I personally feel like Arsenal should have been awarded at least two penalties after Jesus and Saka were both brought down in the box, but VAR ruled that both challenges with “too soft” to be given, and for me, they were both clear penalties and left me feeling like we were completely robbed.
I hate to blame a loss of the officials and yes, we should have been more clinical in our chances, but that first goal took a lot of the pressure off West Ham and left us chasing a equaliser, changing the whole mood of the game, and although Arsenal did put their heads down and kept pushing, it changed the game. I think that if the goal was ruled out, the game ends differently.
What’s your thoughts Gooners?
Daisy Mae
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