West Ham United: Alan Pardew laughs at David Moyes response on talkSPORT after Aston Villa draw
Alan Pardew could not help but laugh after listening to David Moyes questioned on the controversial VAR call as West Ham were denied a winner against Aston Villa.
Tomas Soucek thought he had won the game late on after converting James Ward-Prowse’s delivery, but it was ruled out for handball after a lengthy VAR check.
A clearly angry Moyes held back from hitting out at the officials at risk of being fined, despite being constantly asked about the decision in his post-match interviews.
Speaking on talkSPORT [17 March, 8:10pm], former United boss Pardew said: “David’s frustrated and you can tell that in his voice. He’s so close to a fantastic victory there.
“For us, we know supporters in the stadium are not getting any feedback. Six minutes? What’s going on? Fans are scratching their heads. It’s ridiculous.
“The process is wrong. Simple. Get back to the process that works. There’s this weird thing in stadiums where they go to VAR, the crowd know the answer because you hear a roar – it’s just wrong. A lot needs to be fixed, let’s be honest.”
Asked about West Ham and their aims for the rest of the season, Pardew added: “West Ham are seventh at the moment and pushing for European football again through the league.
“Moyes played the same forward line today – a proper forward line for the Premier League. Mohammed Kudus’ performance in midweek was outstanding.
“So I actually think Villa got a good result today. Villa for me are the team I worry for – they’ve lost a bit of form. West Ham are in the zone and you can tell by David’s voice he’s gutted they haven’t won the game.”
West Ham draw with Aston Villa at London Stadium
West Ham were robbed of all three points against Aston Villa. As Pardew says, the most frustrating aspect for the matchgoing supporter is how little information they are given.
The irony is that everyone watching the game around the world knows more about what is going on than the thousands of fans who have paid their hard-earned money to attend.
If VAR is here to stay, which you imagine it is, then they need to find a way to better communicate decisions. More importantly, they cannot take more than a minute to make a decision – let alone five-plus.
Moyes was clearly frustrated as a victory against Villa would have made a big difference in terms of the narrative heading into the international break.
Instead of three Premier League wins from four outings, the more negative angle is that United have now won just two of their past 10 games in the competition.
And the most annoying aspect of all is that there is now a two-week gap before the trip to Newcastle United on 30 March.
In other West Ham news, the Irons’ win over Freiburg has sparked retirement rumours for a popular figure.
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