West Ham United: Simon Jordan baffled by VAR controversy v Aston Villa live on talkSPORT
Simon Jordan has admitted he was baffled and frustrated by the length of time taken to disallow West Ham United’s late goal in their Premier League clash with Aston Villa.
The Hammers thought they had scored a late winner in their 1-1 draw with Unai Emery’s side on Sunday (17 March) only for a six-minute VAR check to deem that Tomas Soucek had handled the ball on the way into the net.
While talkSPORT’s Jordan believed it was handball, he slammed the officials for the length of time it took to reach a final decision suggesting Sunday’s call will lead to questions around the “competency” of the VAR process.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday (18 March, 12:08) he said: “I think that adds fuel to the debate about the veracity and competency of VAR and its value to the game.
“I have been a VAR advocate, not because I want to see technology overrunning the game but because I don’t see how the biggest sport in the world should be the only sport in the world that doesn’t embrace digital technology.
“When you start moving into the territory of six minutes, you start to discredit the system. You start to discredit the thought process behind it.
“If you can’t get to a decision in a minute, two minutes tops and even then I find that difficult to contend with, then you are not in the territory where it can be that clear and obvious.”
Should West Ham United have been given a goal during their clash with Aston Villa?
It seems that most in the footballing world, perhaps other than David Moyes himself, feel it was acceptable for the VAR to rule out Soucek’s strike, but have been left frustrated by the sheer amount of time it took to make a decision.
VAR was originally brought into football to help referees identify clear and obvious mistakes and put them right. As Jordan suggested, how can something be clear and obvious if it takes six minutes for an official to decide?
Moyes is entitled to feel disgruntled as West Ham have had a number of these contentious decisions go against them this season, especially in recent weeks. There is a lack of competence and consistency from officials.
Hopefully, the international break will be spent ironing out these faults in the process to help the officials become more consistent when the Premier League resumes as these sorts of mistakes are happening far too often this season.
In other West Ham news, Phil Thompson has shared his verdict on Moyes’ position at the London Stadium
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