Did VAR get it right⁉️ REACTION to the VAR decision from West Ham vs. Arsenal | ESPN FC Extra Time

0:02 Welcome into the latest edition of extra time.

0:05 Lots going on today.

0:06 We're in the big fantasy studio because we did our classico.

0:09 Craig, first half of the season you were

0:10 quite negative of Barca's high line and defense overall.

0:13 [music] Has the entertaining play and results won you over any?

0:21 Well, one of the reasons that they're not

0:27 in the Champions League hunt is the high line, as it was last year.

0:34 [music]

0:33 Uh it is not perfect and I I I love watching them play.

0:39 It's super risky, but you could say it's not really been tested

0:45 second half of this season because Real Madrid have been so poor.

0:49 So, they could have afforded or there was a what I

0:51 said saying [music] the uh in the live show, 14 points Mhm.

0:55 of a gap at the moment.

0:56 [music] Yes.

0:57 Which means you can make mistakes.

0:58 So, I'm not I don't think any of us are wrong about it.

1:02 It's but it's the way Hansi Flick does it.

1:05 But I think it's going to stop them in the big

1:10 in the elite level Champions League knockout [music] stages.

1:12 I don't think they can and I think that's been proven.

1:15 So, I'm not negative about it.

1:16 I just don't I think it has its I think it has

1:19 a lot of downfalls as well as a lot of plus points.

1:21 Okay.

1:22 Craig, I'm genuinely amazed at the overwhelmingly

1:25 negative reactions to what seemed a clear foul.

1:28 Are neutrals bigger haters now that when the guys were playing?

1:34 Not What what what's what's the first part of that question again?

1:37 Uh amazed at the overwhelming negative reactions to what

1:40 a negative reaction from a lot of people.

1:42 I'll answer this in two parts just quickly.

1:44 There's a negative reaction because there was so much else going on.

1:49 [music] And it was the the question of what came first.

1:52 Which foot And there was there was probably two or three other fouls at least.

1:56 Which came first and why was that one the definitive one the referee went to?

2:01 Right.

2:01 [music] So, that would be the first reason

2:02 that I think there's a this is blowing up.

2:05 The second part of it is all the sort of negativity and bemoaning is [music]

2:11 born out of the the the the sort of era that we're in of social media.

2:17 It's as simple as that.

2:19 There are There there's two worlds.

2:22 There is the social media stroke X stroke

2:27 Twitter moronic world where there's very little common sense,

2:31 and then there's the real world where people

2:33 may disagree with people or have a different opinion,

2:35 but there's far more common sense.

2:37 That's a big part of the issue cuz if you live in one of those worlds, i.e.

2:40 the social media world, that's all you're seeing.

2:43 Yes.

2:43 But, it's not really it's not really indicative

2:46 of a lot of normal people out there.

2:49 Do you think the negativity around Arsenal has been fueled

2:52 by their style of play in the second half of the season, Frank?

2:54 [music] I don't know.

2:58 I'm not sure about that.

2:59 It's a It's a I think it's a combination of many many things, you know.

3:05 Um the way that they played at first it was very convincing and after,

3:09 you know, they were struggling.

3:11 The set pieces and all the powers that we saw, the obstruction and everything.

3:15 So, the negativity came up where they were quite annoying.

3:20 And uh and and Craig is is true.

3:22 You can talk about it have a legit to talk

3:25 about it and be in a neutral point of view,

3:27 critical towards what you see because you think it's not the top of the top.

3:32 Uh and then then you have another let's say

3:35 cat word of media who are only uh trashing other

3:38 things and even us and even the people who

3:41 criticize and that's the word that we want to avoid.

3:44 But, the negativity comes from the fact that Arteta

3:49 at some point I has been annoying uh

3:51 and the complaints from from many people and all

3:55 top the the Arsenal fans came up as well.

3:57 So, it's it's hard to to find why it happened,

4:01 but it happened because the way they were playing

4:04 and the way people inside the club were complaining about.

4:08 You know, it would normally wouldn't happen when a club wins as many titles

4:12 as Man City in such a short space of time as they as they did.

4:16 [music] With a manager who spent a lot of money

4:17 and with a club who still have 115 charges hanging hanging over them.

4:21 [music] Uh And Arsenal won't care about this, but I

4:23 think most neutrals would would have been hoping City,

4:26 neutrals that is, not us, would have been hoping uh although we are neutral,

4:31 we don't sort of vouch [music] for any team,

4:33 but most neutral supporters would have wanted Man City to win

4:36 the league because I think Arsenal have become very dislikeable.

4:41 They won't care about that, but it's it became about the set pieces.

4:44 It became it became about Nicolas Jover.

4:48 [music] The the set-piece coach.

4:49 It It became about the manager bouncing around in the technical area.

4:52 It became about everyone's against us.

4:54 It became about the style of play.

4:57 Uh And [music] maybe that's harnessed some

5:01 sort of siege mentality within the dressing room.

5:03 I I I don't know.

5:04 Sometimes you find that's that's how it goes.

5:06 But there's no doubt and generally when what happens

5:09 is when a team is top of the tree, they [music] do become dislikeable anyway.

5:13 That's a kind of natural thing for people to do.

5:15 But I do feel Arsenal have really [music] and people other supporters guys

5:20 really have become a team that that a lot of them want to hate.

5:24 I've I've said it long for a long time.

5:27 How you win the league is really unimportant to you as an individual.

5:31 To you, maybe everybody else it is who

5:33 think you should win it playing a certain way.

5:34 That's that's not correct.

5:36 How you win the league is is really unimportant to a to a team.

5:39 It's it's about winning the league,

5:41 and it looks that that's what Arsenal are going to do.

5:43 Now, flicking that switch, as you know, we talk about,

5:46 and and and playing a team like PSG in the Champions

5:49 League and playing in the same manner in which

5:52 they are that that's a that's a different conundrum and we'll

5:54 find out just how that's going [music] to work out.

5:57 But there's no doubt that Arsenal are capable of playing much

6:01 better than what we've seen in the second half of this season.

6:04 There is there is no doubt they have

6:05 a better player pool than what we are seeing.

6:08 That being said, they're probably going to win

6:10 the league albeit they're crawling over the line.

6:12 Frank mentioned something during the show that I wanted to ask you.

6:15 He was talking about how it's getting worse in the box

6:17 with the pushing and the shoving and the and the wrestling.

6:20 Is that just kind of recently recently bias?

6:23 Did that happen in your day and is it just the fact

6:25 that we've got cameras now that's picking up all these different incidents

6:28 always a little bit of blocking but it was never

6:31 it was it there was always more players than that.

6:34 Frank can either agree or disagree.

6:36 There was always seemed to be more players [music]

6:38 on the edge of the box or on the penalty spot

6:41 particularly defenders or bigger players waiting to go and attack that ball.

6:46 Now it seems there's less of that and more about

6:50 the inswinger under the crossbar which is which I'm okay with.

6:54 Trying to block the goalkeeper.

6:55 Right.

6:56 But I do think this is and you know I mentioned this on the show.

6:59 I I do think this is a if if if you're changing the laws, right?

7:02 You changed the back pass rule so the goalkeeper couldn't pick it up.

7:05 You changed the offside law to try and benefit the attacking play.

7:10 So they've made all these changes to the laws over the years [music]

7:13 and there's been many more.

7:15 I think this is going to have to be

7:16 a law or certainly [music] a part of the game

7:19 that they're going to have to look at because it's

7:21 becoming not just in England but it's becoming super ugly.

7:25 You know, every set piece every mainly corner but every

7:27 free kick we have this delay of game where a referee's

7:31 got to go and talk to people cuz some somebody's

7:33 lying on the floor right before the ball's even kicked [music]

7:36 and the goalkeeper spends the time pushing people out of and and there

7:41 there has to be a better way around this and I

7:42 think honestly they have to look at either limiting the number

7:46 of people in the six-yard box before a corner or excluding them completely.

7:52 But then you're just going to have the same

7:53 scenario on the six-yard line where everyone's pushing and scrapping,

7:56 but it's just a little bit further away from the goalkeeper.

7:59 Yeah, but yeah Yeah, there was Go on, Frank.

8:02 You find me You find me, Craig.

8:03 There was a a time where PSG tried something.

8:07 It was a time with Ginola, George Weah, Ricardo Gomes, very tall guy.

8:12 They were putting uh all uh everybody in the in the near post,

8:18 not close to the goalkeeper because at the time you

8:20 couldn't touch the goalkeeper or it would have been a foul.

8:22 But they put all a group of players together in a in a in a in a near post uh

8:28 in order to get the ball from Valdo uh

8:31 and and to and to avoid any opponent to come into them.

8:35 So they were all together and they scored

8:37 like many many goals, but it didn't last.

8:40 I don't know why, but we never saw any any any foul.

8:45 The goalkeeper was free to go and punch

8:47 anybody uh and the defender was able to come,

8:50 but it was very hard because they were very compact, but they tried.

8:53 But it didn't last.

8:54 I don't know why, but uh but it was a good combination of what we

8:57 see now and our football at the time

8:59 and a good tactic without seeing any obstruction,

9:03 blocking and uh and goalkeeper not being able to even to jump.

9:07 But it's become so tedious, Frank.

9:08 I mean, every time you see every And it's not just Arsenal.

9:10 I'm not This is not an Arsenal-centric point.

9:13 Well, we saw it yesterday with Liverpool-Chelsea.

9:14 Yeah.

9:15 Everyone pushing and shoving.

9:16 Exactly.

9:17 And when a corner kick is been taken,

9:19 for the most part you could go and put the kettle on, make a cup of tea,

9:22 come back and the ref will still be trying to sort it out.

9:24 This is a part of the game they're going to have to look at.

9:27 Uh the game evolves.

9:29 The laws of the game evolve and I've mentioned some of them

9:31 and this is just another part where it's not enhancing the game.

9:35 It's taking away from the spectacle because [music] we're having

9:40 these scenarios and you're never going to eradicate it fully.

9:43 But when you have I'm going to say [music] 12 guys,

9:47 maybe 10 guys stood within a three or four yard radius and the goalkeeper,

9:51 how how how can you sort that out?

9:53 So that Look, I think IFAB are going to have

9:55 to to look at coming up with something that cleans

9:58 this part of up cuz [music] not only will it

10:00 make it easier for the referees and and the VAR,

10:03 I think it'll speed the game up as well.

10:05 Well, it's got to.

10:06 Cuz it's just ridiculous now.

10:07 Too much faffing.

10:08 Faffing around.

10:09 Frank, Scotland's biggest football rival is England.

10:12 Who is France's big- biggest rival?

10:17 Um I would say Italy.

10:21 Uh Well, well, because we're in the middle of uh Western Europe,

10:26 I would say that uh England, Germany, Not Belgium?

10:30 Not really.

10:32 French Not Belgium.

10:32 We love Bel- Belgian people, but they don't like us.

10:35 They They don't [laughter] like us.

10:37 We don't like you either.

10:38 I MEAN, WHO LIKES YOU?

10:39 NO, you do know.

10:39 You do know.

10:40 You do know why.

10:41 You do know why, but we don't know why.

10:43 But uh but playing against England has been always

10:45 something special because of the history that we have

10:49 and the 100 Years War uh and that half

10:53 of England was French before and Normandy was English, maybe, I don't know.

10:57 Uh Germany because of the history as well.

10:59 But Italy, I don't really know why.

11:01 And it came very, especially in our time, in my time,

11:04 where many French players came to Italy to play.

11:09 Um Desailly, Thuram, Zidane, Deschamps,

11:13 Boghossian and and some others, Thuram as well.

11:17 And uh and every time we had a game against Italy,

11:20 it was like a a World Cup final.

11:22 They couldn't lose because they knew that they had to come

11:24 back to the dressing room the day after in Italy.

11:27 And uh at at the last they would have been teased by the the the the players.

11:32 So, it became a big rivalry,

11:34 but uh and then we we are we are fighting also about, you know,

11:38 clothes, food, um monuments, whatever, who is the best country in Europe,

11:43 and we are fighting against Italy about that.

11:45 So, it's maybe the reason why.

11:46 But, yeah, we have many enemies.

11:48 Nobody loves us, but it's normal.

11:50 I understand What a long answer.

11:53 [laughter] I would have just I would have just said I would

11:56 have just said Germany after what Harald Schumacher did to Battiston.

11:59 Frank, I'm not sure if you saw Eden Hazard's shorts.

12:02 Did you in our in our coverage?

12:04 Obviously, you don't like Look like a bathrobe.

12:06 Yeah, they were quite they're quite something there.

12:09 Yeah, it is something.

12:12 Yeah, I would have I wouldn't have come on TV,

12:14 especially close to Alexi, with shorts like that.

12:17 But, but he's not at a restaurant like you.

12:22 Right.

12:22 Dan, coming to a restaurant, you know,

12:24 for dinner with shorts and almost flip-flops,

12:27 you know, and and shame me a lot, you know.

12:30 He's from Belgium.

12:31 Frank, I was hoping that you'd come to Wembley

12:32 with us next weekend and we could have had dinner together.

12:35 You're not You're not going to come?

12:37 No, he's at play.

12:38 No, I'm sorry.

12:39 I'm going to be on stage.

12:41 I'm going to be on stage for the Champions League final as well.

12:43 Just saw that.

12:44 I'm so upset about that.

12:46 I'm going to see the game, but I can't be with you guys after.

12:49 Yeah, I think I will see you guys there.

12:52 But, some people have to have to work, you know.

12:54 Yeah, so me and Craig are off to England tomorrow.

12:56 Craig, when does Wembley Craig start?

12:59 Take off, touch down, or not until you're in the stadium?

13:02 At the moment you leave here, I would suggest.

13:04 You've been very happy, friendly chap away from here.

13:07 And that [laughter] is it.

13:08 That brings us to the end of today's show.

13:10 Uh me and Craig will be away, but of course,

13:12 the rest of the crew will be here as there's a lot going on, including,

13:15 of course, Manchester City against Palace.

13:19 Oh, oh, I'm not asking that question.

13:21 It's too late.

13:22 Let's get this done.

13:23 Goodbye.

13:47 Mhm.