West Ham fans are hurting after the incredible irony of seeing their side’s equaliser overturned by a five minute VAR review yesterday. This after Arsenal have made set-piece chicanery their specialty this season with endless examples of opposition goal keepers being taken out, impeded or – in one case being bundled over the line -doing the rounds on social media today.
None of which will change the result or the points allocation.
It might be somewhat cathartic for thousands of upset Hammers fans, though: More so if, as expected, Tottenham ram home their advantage with a home win tonight and seal the Hammers’ fate.
94 Premier League goals yet sat on the bench for virtually the whole game – again
Callum Wilson’s superb volley – a ‘goal’ by any other name – would have been his second in added time within two weeks at London Stadium and it begs the question as to why Nuno Espírito Santo overlooks the proven Premier League predator and insists on playing the talentless Pablo – whose only contribution is to run gamely at opponents like a toothless puppy.
Forty minutes of Wilson could have transformed that result yesterday instead of the young Brazilian’s limited contribution.
West Ham needed goals yet Nuno could not bring himself to bring on the player with ninety four Premier League goals under his belt.
Somebody needs to ask him why he persists with Pablo even when the evidence before him is clear.
Too late, now for this season: Nuno will likely be off to pastures new in the summer along with 90% of his squad but, just in case he’s thinking of an extended stay, it’d be good to understand on which planet he feels Pablo is likely to give him more goals than the wily old fox Wilson.
Starting team was ok.
Bench and substitutes were Nuno’s let down.
Wilson should have come on earlier to give him at least 25 mins.
Why was Killman on bench when there is no intention of playing him?
Traore and Magassa would have been better at least there was a chance of them playing.
Why was Nuno so insistent on getting services of Traore when he keeps by-passing him?
He has the power and ability to give defenders problems.
Adama was injured and Killman was required as we started with three CBs.
Whilst Pablo isn’t completely devoid of usefulness he is devoid of ability we stand just behind the goal in the Bobby Moore end and every time the ball was lofted in his direction we watched him look away as the ball came towards him. Needless to say on each occasion the move broke down as the defenders headed the ball away. It’s primary school stuff
Also Pablo replaced taty to keep up the pressure on Arsenal from the front, that allowed us pressure them and effectively nullify their threat until they scored. Had it been Wilson on the pitch we would have been overwhelmed. He would not have been able to do all the chasing down that was needed, and he would have been far too tired to get the shot off that he did.
So to me Nuno got it right he put Wilson on and Wilson hit the back of the net.
I thought Pablo done okay yesterday, he was physical and gave Arsenal defenders problems.
The bottom line is, it was a good choice by Nuno with the starting line up, however a poor choice bringing on Pablo at any point of the game.
Had Fernandes put away his gilt edge chance. I am sure you would be waxing lyrical about Pablo’s deft touch pass to him.
I am hoping Leeds respect the competition and give a good account of themselves . If I am right even if Spurs win hopefully not they would be 4 points clear with 2 games left . It’s not over yet I think we will win our last two given yesterday’s game . We were unlucky
I feel for the Hammers and agree they should have played Wilson. I also think they should have been more cavalier throughout the game. The Hammers may as well have been beaten 10-0 as 1-0 in trying to pressure an anxious Arsenal side since their goal difference is already so much poorer than Spurs that its an irrelevance.
As far as the corner kick “goal” is concerned if you watch the replays of the corner kick you can see this was a well-orchestrated but poorly executed plan for the set-piece.
The first foul is by Soucek at the front post where he throws Havertz (one of Arsenal’s tallest) to the ground to prevent the front post clearance.
The second foul is by Todibo as he grabs Raya’s shirt to pull him into the melee.
The third is not just Pablo’s arm but his hand holding down Raya’s arm to restrict his reach.
As a neutral I strongly believe these three actions were connected and orchestrated but unfortunately were caught by VAR. Yes there were other grappling incidents all over the box but both sides were at it. Meanwhile Rice’s hold on Mavrapanos was after the Hammers offences so becomes irrelevant.
Rice grabbed hold of Mavropanos first preventing him from jumping to head the ball and Trossaud was holding and pushing Pablo which arguably caused him to infringe on the keeper. There was so much grabbing and holding from Arsenal I thought I was watching WWE! If it takes VAR over 44 minutes too make a decision it is clearly not a clear and obvious mistake. Both teams have questions to answer
The problem is referees have been letting all teams get away with this all season mainly owing to Arsenal making it a key part of their tactics. When Brighton employ a MMA fighter to train them in grappling and blocking at set pieces you know the game has a problem. Today Martin Keown said the net season refs should handout red cards when this occurs, but there is a much simpler solution just call a penalty or free kick immediately when the first offence occurs regardless if it is doe by the attacking or defending team.
Thanks for that Gooner No 1
To be honest, I thought the same thing, but we needed someone to come on and chase and close down defenders, and Wilson is not that man, plus can Wilson play for 40 minutes? But I agree though a little earlier in bringing him on would have been nice…….If fact bring them both on together!