Thierry Henry cannot believe what he’s seen after footage emerges from 2-0 West Ham win v Arsenal
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry could not believe what he saw after Tomas Soucek’s controversial West Ham United opener in their 2-0 win over the Gunners on Thursday 28 December.
The Hammers were looking to claim their third Premier League win in a row when they travelled to the Emirates Stadium to take on Mikel Arteta’s team.
West Ham took the lead when Soucek latched on to Jarrod Bowen’s cut-back after the ball looked to have gone out of play. VAR had a look at the incident but determined that there was no conclusive evidence that the ball had gone out.
And sharing his reaction to the incident live on Amazon Prime (28 December), Henry was left in shock at what occurred.
Alan Shearer opened up the debate saying: “There is no conclusive to say that the goal should be disallowed, the referee has given it on the pitch so give me a 100% reason why the VAR should disallow that.
“I can’t really say for certain that the whole of the ball is out.”
Henry responded saying: “Well that’s the second time for Arsenal. Newcastle away but if you want to help the referees have the right angle. If you want to know the ball is out, you have to be above the ball, that’s the only way you can know if it’s out or not.
“We’re in 2023/24 and we still don’t have a camera that can be above.
“It’s too many times when you don’t know if the ball is out or not, so can we have a camera that we can see the ball is out or not? It’s just impossible to see it.”
Not conclusive
Shearer is absolutely right in that there is no definitive or conclusive evidence that the ball was outside the pitch or not and in this instance, you probably have to lean towards the onfield and VAR’s decision.
We are certainly starting to see more and more of these instances being played out in top-level football these days and it seems to have stemmed from that Karou Mitoma moment for Japan at the 2022 World Cup.
When looking at it from behind Bowen as he cut the ball back for Soucek, the ball does seem to be out of play but you can never tell from that perspective as there’s still the birds-eye view to consider.
With the money being put into the Premier League these days, it is absolutely astounding that we still do not have the technology to determine these instances and Arteta will be livid at that fact.
Perhaps with the call as tight as it was, the ultimate decision to stick with the on-field decision of goal would be the best course to take.
However, the West Ham United fans certainly wouldn’t have cared as they grabbed a rare goal and win against their London rivals. Huge result for the Hammers but it will be marred by that controversial incident.
In other West Ham news, Alan Shearer has reacted to ‘devastating’ news on Lucas Paqueta