High profile football journalist Henry Winter has slammed VAR after West Ham United drew 1-1 with Aston Villa yesterday.
Times journalist Henry Winter has taken to his official X account to deliver his verdict on VAR ruling out what would have been a last minute winner for West Ham against Aston Villa in the Premier League.
The fact that the decision took nearly six minutes to make has already been panned by the likes of talkSPORT pundit Andy Townsend, and now Winter has had his say.
The Hammers got a point against Villa, but it looked for all the world like we had nicked the win at the end of the game.
The correct decision was made after the ball bounced off the arm of Tomas Soucek before Jarrod Bowen bundled the ball home.
However, it was the sheer length of time that it took to reach the decision that angered so many – something that Winter has now alluded to…
Henry Winter lets rip at West Ham vs Aston Villa VAR decision
Winter was clearly very unhappy indeed with what went down at the London Stadium yesterday afternoon.
The Times journalist took to his official X account this morning, and labelled the VAR officiating as ’embarrassing’:
Winter is 100% correct here. Pretty much every single West Ham fan will admit that the ball struck Soucek’s arm before Bowen nodded home.
However, the fact that the officials took nearly six minutes to reach a decision proves in itself that the error from Jarred Gillett to award the goal was not ‘clear and obvious’.
We need more high-profile figures like Henry Winter to openly criticise VAR, or more precisely the officiating behind the technology, if we’re ever to reach a stage whereby it’s implemented correctly.
Hopefully the powers that be address the blatant deficiencies that we have with officiating in England at the end of the season, so that VAR can be used to help the game and take it forward, rather than hinder it.
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