I’ve decided that I am suffering from a new ailment. It’s common to all West Ham United supporters – in fact, probably every fan of a Premier League club might say they have the same thing. It hasn’t yet got a name, but I’m going to call it ‘VARitis’. You can tell if you have it – for us West Ham fans, you’ll be watching the team play, and at some stage of the match, normally towards the end, you’ll be inexplicably consumed with rage whilst suffering simultaneous confusion.
You won’t understand what just happened or why, and no-one will be able to offer you a rational explanation. Now, I know that I’m biased here, but it does seem as if I’m not alone amongst West Ham fans with this.
I know that fans of rival clubs will say the same thing, but honestly, there’s barely a week that goes by these days without me tearing what little hair I have out, seeking an explanation as to not only the decision that was just made, but also the whole concept of VAR in the first place. Take the Manchester United away game. This is a match in which we were arguably the better side in, and we should have led as early as the 11th minute.
This is the point at which James Ward-Prowse slings in a corner, and although Soucek heads it over, there’s what seems to be a foul on Alverez. I say a foul – a better description would be a one-way wrestle from Casemiro, who presumably decided to spice things up a bit. VAR, predictably, doesn’t get involved. We lose.
What about the home match against Burnley? I accept we were hopeless in the first half. But we come back to 2-2, and then their midfielder Berge appeared to handle the ball in the box, heading it onto his hand. Apparently though, according to the VAR gods, this is not a penalty. Why? And as Moyes said afterwards, what’s he doing with his arms in front of his face when he’s heading it?
If the pen is awarded, we have the chance to win, and if we do that, we’d be a lot closer to the top six than we currently are. However, these two incidents caused just a mild dose of VARitis. For a full-blown, keep-you-off-of-work, completely inexplicable version, just look at the Sheffield United match, and then have a free repeat dose against Aston Villa.
First, the Blades. Now, I’m not David Moyes, so I’m allowed to say this. Sheer incompetence. The management of the system was incompetent, two decisions were incompetent, and it cost us big time.
It is not a foul by Alphonse Areola on McBurnie in a million years. It’s a foul on Areola, and a free kick to us. It’s not a penalty to them. It was a clear and obvious error. It took five minutes for VAR to study it, and even after that, where presumably they struggled to tell one body part from another, they stuck by the on-field decision. Who was using the collective brain cell there?
A minute later, in their penalty area, exactly the same thing happens – a player wrestled to the ground, in this case Bowen – and the referee gives, wait for it, a free kick to Sheffield United. Lunacy doesn’t even begin to describe it. Another two points gone, due to hilariously inept usage of VAR.
And finally, the coup de grace, Aston Villa. We scored four times and drew 1-1. We scored four times and the referee ruled out three of them. I’ll focus on the Soucek ‘winner’. Now, I’ve not got a problem with the fact it might have been ruled out – as tenuous as it was. I think Soucek probably fouled Konsa in the buildup.
What I do think is a farce – a VARce if you like – is the fact that the check took well over five minutes – the longest in the Premier League to date. And remember, it’s there to sort out ‘clear and obvious’ errors.
If a check takes over five minutes, it is not a clear and obvious error. Simple. I could have had a haircut in that time. VAR, particularly its application, is horrible. Poor decisions have cost West Ham, by my reckoning, at least six points this season and I am struggling to think of an example where we have benefitted the other way around.
What makes me most angry? VAR should be good. Rugby gets it right. But for our sport, it isn’t working – not for the team, nor the fans. And if we end up missing out on Europe because of it, then I’m done with the whole thing altogether.
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