West Ham United: Richard Keys shares David Moyes verdict after ‘Madness’ he saw
Richard Keys shared his sympathy for David Moyes after VAR went against West Ham United again in the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.
The sports commentator in his latest article (18 March) said that he couldn’t imagine how Moyes must feel this morning after the Hammers were twice denied by VAR at the London Stadium.
A goal by Michail Antonio, from a corner, was ruled out for a handball in the 49th minute which prevented the Hammers from going 2-0 up before a second handball call denied the Hammers the winner deep into stoppage time from a rebound shot by Tomas Soucek.
“One big handball decision after another has gone against his team in their last few games,” Keys wrote in his blog. “The last of them took a record 5 minutes 37 seconds to sort out.
“What sort of madness is this?
“It took over four mins to allow Coventry’s first at Wolves. This can’t go on. If it takes more than 30 seconds to make a VAR decision – forget it. Go with the onfield decision. It’s ridiculous to make us all wait any longer. It’s discourteous and arrogant in equal measure by VAR operators.”
West Ham United hard done by VAR and Premier League again
According to ESPN, who keep a live update of VAR decisions for and against every Premier League team, West Ham are joint with Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Spurs for the second most decisions that have gone against them so far this season.
Moyes’ team are also in the bottom four for favourable VAR decisions, ahead of Bournemouth, Manchester City and Wolves.
The result also denied the Hammers the opportunity to go joint on 47 points with Manchester United, with United having a game in hand, and three points behind Spurs in fifth.
Keys, like many others, also highlighted an important point. The time to make a VAR decision has to have a limited implementation. ‘Clear and obvious’ as the phrase entails, should be something easily identifiable.
So if a mistake, such as a handball, is not a decision that can be made within 30 seconds, as Keys suggests, then the goal should stand rather than draw out a decision to find the most minuscule of errors to cancel a goal. That was not the original purpose of installing the technology into football.
It really is infuriating.
In other West Ham news, Phil Thompson has fumed at VAR controversy live on talkSPORT.
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