Keith Hackett calls for major VAR change after West Ham v Manchester United incidents
We’re delighted to welcome former Premier League referee Keith Hackett as our exclusive West Ham United columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium.
Ex-Premier League referee Keith Hackett wants a major VAR change after West Ham lost 2-1 to Manchester United on Sunday.
There were a number of incidents that created debate at the London Stadium with referee Martin Atkinson in the thick of the action.
A free-kick given against Tomas Soucek on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, when it appeared the decision should have been reversed and the Irons awarded a penalty, was just one controversial incident among many.
Former-FIFA listed official Hackett has now called for changes to the VAR system after what he noticed.
“They’re human beings [officials],” Hackett told West Ham Zone. “I think this double appointment system should be knocked on the head. They’ve now got 20 officials. They should have an independent VAR panel.
“I think there’s not only this, in terms of fatiguing, I think there’s a relationship problem. I’ve discussed in the past, senior guys, junior guys, all those sorts of relationships.
“For me, you had a very experienced referee not having a good game and you had a relatively new name on the Premier League scene in Darren England, who was probably thinking ‘that’s not a serious and obvious error, I’m not going to come in’.
“VAR should have come in and said ‘right, have another look, for me you’ve made a mistake, that’s a penalty kick’.
“So I think the question should have been asked, it wasn’t. I was slightly disappointed that VAR didn’t come in but then I looked immediately and thought ‘this is a potential relationship problem between the most experienced referee in the Premier League I would suggest in Atkinson, and one of the least experienced referees in Darren England, who came on the list last year.
“You can be conditioned to the fact you’re sitting there in a room and you’re working on a clear and obvious error and you’re actually saying to yourself psychologically ‘well it’s Martin Atkinson, he doesn’t make big errors’.”
In other West Ham news, Charlie Nicholas claims David Moyes is livid after this recent Irons incident.
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