West Ham United: Chris Sutton slams ‘massive inconsistency’ after controversy v Aston Villa
Chris Sutton has slammed VAR after the decision to disallow a last-minute winner from Tomas Soucek as West Ham drew 1-1 with Aston Villa at the London Stadium.
The former Chelsea striker insisted that, while most fans were willing to give VAR a chance to improve and impress, the inconsistency in decision-making has turned people against it.
Sutton continued by saying that the decisions, rather than being a few individual errors, happen every week in the Premier League, and said it cannot continue like this.
Speaking live on BBC Radio 5 [17 February, 17:20], Sutton ranted: “I think most football fans feel the same way. Most people wanted to give VAR a chance, but they are so frustrated with the way that week in and week out there is still massive inconsistency.”
West Ham fall to controversial VAR decision against Aston Villa
The Hammers thought they’d secured all three points at the London Stadium, something that would have been huge in their continued battle for European qualification via league position, but a lengthy VAR call decided otherwise.
It was the longest VAR check since the technology was brought into the Premier League, taking six minutes to come to a conclusion about whether Soucek had handled the ball during a goal-mouth scramble before the ball was turned in.
This was not the only decision to go against the Hammers against Villa either, with a goal earlier in the game also having been ruled out and a check for a penalty as well, leading to a chorus of boos at the London Stadium as the fans voiced their displeasure.
The continued controversy surrounding VAR is not good for the game, almost as much as the VAR itself is proving not to be on numerous occasions, and calls like this one – whether the correct decision has been made or not – will not increase fan favour.
In other West Ham news, a Real Madrid transfer has been mooted for Lucas Paqueta.
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