Gary Neville tells Pablo exactly what he did wrong, it cost West Ham massively vs Arsenal
Gary Neville has had his say on the West Ham United controversy in the Arsenal defeat on Sunday.
The ex-Manchester United captain was in the commentary box as the Hammers looked to have scored a late equaliser at the London Stadium.
Callum Wilson wheeled away in celebration before, minutes later, Chris Kavanagh took a trip to the pitchside monitor to rule his goal out.
That handed Mikel Arteta’s side three points and has prompted plenty of conversation about the use of VAR once again.
West Ham felt robbed against Arsenal, although Neville believes the fault lies at Pablo’s door rather than anyone else’s.
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Gary Neville blames Pablo for Arsenal controversy
The Brazilian has certainly caused conversation, both positive and negative, since signing for the Irons in January.
He has regularly started under Nuno Espirito Santo recently, but was only afforded 23 minutes off the bench against the Gunners this time around.
| Stat vs Arsenal | Pablo |
| Minutes played | 23 |
| Touches | 12 |
| Passes completed | 2 |
| Dribble success rate (%) | 0 |
| Duel win rate (%) | 33 |
The forward was called upon to go and change the game, but he wasn’t really able to have the desired impact after replacing Taty Castellanos.
Unfortunately, he went on to be involved in the most frustrating moment of the clash in East London by being deemed to have fouled Raya.
Although some may argue with the decision, Neville, speaking via The Gary Neville Podcast, has suggested that the 22-year-old’s actions were right to be punished.
He said: “If Pablo had have been jumping, I think with leverage as an attacker would do, I think he should be entitled to go for it, but he didn’t.
“He just had his arm there, and he wasn’t looking at the ball; he wasn’t looking to play the ball; he was looking to impede the goalkeeper, and he left his arm in that location for a second or two. That is the problem. That prolonged arm across, to me, he has to then call it.”
The decision went against West Ham and in favour of Arsenal and has since been explained many times, but that doesn’t make it any easier.
West Ham can still feel aggrieved by Arsenal call due to inconsistency
Things may be different if the Irons felt as if the eventual decision was consistent with what they’ve seen throughout the season.
That’s the problem, it isn’t.
Even former goalkeeper Shay Given was able to point out two calls off the top of his head this season that weren’t chalked off by VAR involving Arsenal.
He said: “The thing that grates me is that we’ve seen on numerous occasions with Arsenal this season, goalkeepers getting blocked off, defenders getting blocked off, and the goal stands.
“A couple that stand out are the [Altay] Bayindir one at Old Trafford, I think Emi Martinez got an elbow to the face. I think everyone’s frustrated about the consistency of the refereeing decisions.”
That sums up everything wrong with this decision – not that it was incorrect in itself, but the constant discrepancy between each game.