West Ham vs Arsenal REACTION 👀 Did VAR make a mistake? | ESPN FC

0:00 Yeah, what drama and it means that Arsenal are

0:02 now two victories away from winning the Premier League.

0:06 Just confirmation that they are five clear of Manchester

0:10 City who do have a game in hand.

0:12 Doesn't matter what City do.

0:13 If Arsenal win out, they are champions.

0:16 But [music] inevitably,

0:17 the big talking point was that goal that was disallowed at the death.

0:21 Here's both managers.

0:23 I called from the refs that I think it's very brief,

0:27 but very consistent with what they've been talking about all season.

0:31 So when I have to be critical, I have been and today I have to praise

0:34 them at least for giving the option to a referee

0:36 to decide um away from the lights and the chaos

0:40 to give clarity to him to make the right call.

0:42 And I think when you look at the action um in that way,

0:45 I think it is an obvious error and um it

0:49 is a free kick and the goal has to be disallowed.

0:51 So congratulation because they made um a big call in very,

0:55 very difficult circumstances.

0:58 You could describe it as one

0:58 of the biggest controversial decisions in Premier League history.

1:04 It is a fair shout, but also there's no doubt in your mind that it's about Yeah.

1:09 and then I I guess a lot of people would

1:12 be thinking why does it kind of take so long?

1:14 Probably today I have realized how difficult and how big is a referee's job.

1:22 Because you're talking about a moment that can decide the the history,

1:25 the course of two massive clubs that they are fighting with their lives

1:29 to achieve their objectives and uh oof the pressure is huge.

1:35 He's a natural.

1:36 He was a natural, yeah.

1:38 Everybody's confused.

1:40 Everybody's confused.

1:42 So I think it's up to the referees to try

1:44 and and detect what is what is a fault, what is allowed, what is not allowed.

1:49 Because it seems like um the the rules

1:51 has changed and um everybody feels confused and frustrated.

1:55 The players don't don't understand it.

1:58 It's the lack of consistency in the decisions,

2:00 I think in this previous recent seasons, he's been having a lot of blocking,

2:05 [snorts] grappling, holding, almost like a wrestling situation that all of us

2:10 don't understand what is a foul, what is a foul.

2:13 I think even the referees confuse themselves and this is

2:17 upsetting due to the duality of of criteria.

2:22 Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.

2:25 And today is frustrating.

2:27 They have to solve it.

2:28 They have to to come to the clubs and explain

2:30 and show and try to explain why sometimes it is,

2:33 sometimes it's not, sometimes it's a goal, sometimes it's not a goal.

2:36 Because everybody is feeling confused and today we

2:40 are we are upset and we are sad.

2:45 Frank Leboeuf joins us.

2:46 Hey, my job's easy today.

2:47 Yeah, well let let let me just before we address everyone,

2:50 let me just address Mikel Arteta first and foremost.

2:54 Let's just cut the crap.

2:58 With a manager who is, along with many others,

3:01 one of the biggest hypocrites in modern-day football.

3:05 Because had that gone again had that been

3:07 an Arsenal player with the arm across the goalkeeper, which I think is a foul,

3:13 had that been against him, he would have pointed out all the other

3:16 fouls that were going on apart from that one.

3:21 I.e., he never talks about the the holding

3:25 from from Declan Rice and what Trossard and others were doing.

3:28 So, had that had that been at the other end

3:31 and it was an Arsenal player with the arm across the goalkeeper,

3:34 he would have pointed all the other fouls

3:36 going on and why why was absolutely fine.

3:39 But it's it's fallen in his lap today.

3:41 And when it falls on his lap, he plays the Mr.

3:43 Nice Guy.

3:45 Ref's are great.

3:46 Um you know, VAR's a difficult job.

3:48 I've only just realized You've only just realized VAR's a difficult job.

3:52 Yeah, cuz when it doesn't fall in your lap, that was wrong.

3:55 So, I I Wasn't it the right decision?

3:58 Well, here's the problem I've got.

4:01 The arm across David Raya is a foul.

4:05 But what comes first, the chicken or the egg?

4:08 Because Declan Rice has got a chokehold.

4:11 You know when somebody's choking on a bit of food and you got like the Heimlich

4:16 the Heimlich maneuver and you try you try to never had to do it, thankfully.

4:20 Uh He's got play He's got I think it's Mavropanos.

4:23 He's got him like that and there was other stuff going on.

4:25 So, what foul came first?

4:28 And that that's where I think the issue that a lot of people here have.

4:33 Some some men think it wasn't a free kick with the arm across, but it was.

4:37 It it was.

4:38 You know, you've been Whether you think Raya

4:40 was weak or not, that that's a foul.

4:42 The issue is and that is where English football is.

4:46 This is a problem for the It's a problem for a lot of countries,

4:48 but it's a problem for the Premier League.

4:50 Cuz the Premier League, the richest league in the world,

4:53 the football's been dire for the most part.

4:55 It's been long throws, it's been set pieces,

4:58 it's been bone fighting in the six-yard box, it's been damn ugly.

5:02 That's the Premier League.

5:03 And that's a problem.

5:05 So, I don't want Do you want to watch games like that?

5:08 Do you want to watch this?

5:10 And you know it's ironic it's Arsenal.

5:12 Who who huff and puff and they cheat and they

5:14 block and they do all this, but that's Listen,

5:16 if you get away with it, you get away with it.

5:18 But the issue I have here and I said this to you,

5:23 I think there has to be a law change cuz

5:25 this is this is becoming too much in too many countries.

5:30 This having eight, nine,

5:32 10 people around the goalkeeper and the referee having to intervene, you know,

5:37 90% of the time before a set piece is even taken is just dull and boring.

5:42 And I think they're going to have to look at the laws about maybe

5:45 even keeping players from encroaching into the six-yard

5:48 box until the ball is struck.

5:51 And then you can go ahead and have a free-for-all.

5:53 But we can't continually have this, you know,

5:56 surrounding of the goalkeeper because that's that's not modern-day football.

6:01 And what we end up with is a scenario like this.

6:04 Uh this is a mess.

6:05 This is a mess for Howard Webb at the PGMOL because there's

6:09 going to be conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory about who fell, who false.

6:14 And I can't answer that question because it was it was just a mess.

6:18 What I can tell you, in isolation, in my opinion,

6:22 the arm across David Raya was a foul.

6:25 The rest of it, you go figure that out for yourself.

6:27 Frank.

6:30 Yeah, I mean many things to say.

6:32 I'm I got upset when I saw that because yes,

6:34 it's a foul, for sure, and I'm with Craig with that.

6:37 And I yes, there is something behind all the scene when

6:40 we see Declan Rice holding not only one player, but two players.

6:44 And that was a foul as well.

6:46 And and that's the first foul that I that I saw.

6:50 And how many times, you know,

6:52 Arsenal used that kind of blocks on the goalkeeper,

6:56 obstruction on the goalkeeper,

6:57 and they they got the the the goal allowed where definitely in our time it

7:03 would have been a foul because there

7:04 is no consistency whatsoever from from the referees.

7:08 We don't know.

7:09 In the game, the Premier League became very

7:12 soft where you barely touch somebody in the face,

7:14 the guy fall, this is a free kick, and everything.

7:17 And on corner kick, set pieces, you see as Nuno Espirito Santo said,

7:22 wrestling, blocking, obstruction, craziness.

7:25 I mean, it's it's the opposite of what we see during the game.

7:29 So they have to try to find a solution

7:32 to make it clear because that's everything but clear right now.

7:36 And again, we saw Arsenal doing that every game,

7:40 in every set pieces, and they score 15 goals because of blocking.

7:45 So, I want I want I want just want to understand

7:48 and they have to be clear to explain how it works.

7:51 If that arm had crossed any other player, it wouldn't have been an issue.

7:54 Cuz it wasn't an arm throw.

7:56 Right.

7:56 And it wasn't an an arm If that had been across any other player,

8:00 I don't think we're having this discussion.

8:01 The fact it was the goalkeeper and it's

8:06 who who wasn't off the ground, by the way.

8:08 His feet were still on the ground,

8:09 but because it was the goalkeeper and we know rightly or wrongly,

8:13 there's almost like a different written rule for what's a foul

8:17 on a player and what's a foul on a goalkeeper.

8:19 That's why uh that was given.

8:21 Arsenal will tell you that again.

8:24 They've won.

8:25 Mhm.

8:25 PSG will be looking at that game thinking,

8:27 "We could beat these by five or six." They

8:30 were But to give credit to Arsenal, they did win.

8:33 They got the result.

8:34 Well, they got the result.

8:35 But people sitting at home will say, "Well,

8:37 they got the result because the referee gave them that result and it

8:39 was wrong." And but but but And that this This will rumble on.

8:44 Mhm.

8:44 This will rumble on.

8:45 asterisks when Arsenal lift the title in a couple of weeks.

8:47 No, I don't think so because I'll tell you why.

8:49 This is a This is an isolation is a is

8:51 a horrible sort of decision to have to make and it

8:54 was a mess and there was bodies all over the place

8:56 and there was holding and there was alarming the goalkeeper.

8:59 And and yeah, but in isolation, it's a big decision.

9:03 But there's probably have been 100 to 200 of those.

9:07 Maybe more.

9:07 Arsenal won't win the league because of that decision.

9:10 Arsenal win the league because they've been the best team over 38 games.

9:13 Yeah, the best team with the best results,

9:14 not necessarily and but they've been dreadful to watch recently and they've lost

9:19 their way and the manager got lucky cuz he made another bad decision.

9:23 When Ben White gets injured, he puts Declan Rice, their best midfielder,

9:27 to right back and he brings on Zubimendi who's not been playing well.

9:30 He then has to to to scrub a sub

9:32 by taking making another sub at half time to bring

9:35 Musquero on uh for Calafiori and shift Lewis Skelly

9:40 to left back and put Rice back in the middle.

9:42 Then he takes Zubimendi off, the sub is subbed.

9:45 So, he got lucky today, Mikel Arteta.

9:48 But sometimes you need a little bit of luck.

9:50 And the other part of the luck was he was playing West Ham who,

9:53 yeah, they were fighting for their lives.

9:55 But there's a reason they're down there.

9:57 There's a reason they're still the favorites to be relegated.

10:00 Because they're just they're just not very good.

10:02 And Arsenal have scrapped that one out today.

10:04 It's not over.

10:05 It's not over.

10:06 But this big decision that Chris Kavanagh made,

10:09 and I, you know, I I heard people say,

10:10 "Well, this is a big decision for VAR." No, no, no, no, no, no.

10:14 VAR is only there to give a bit of advice.

10:18 And I thought it was absolutely correct that VAR did its job and said,

10:23 "Listen, this has to be an on-field decision.

10:27 It's so it's too big not to be an on-field decision.

10:30 And so, I think the pressure in some sense was off VAR by saying,

10:35 "Look, this could be 50/50.

10:38 We have to go to the on-field.

10:39 Chris Kavanagh, you make a big call." And that's where that call fell.

10:45 And there's going to be a lot of people disagree

10:47 with it because of everything else that was going on.

10:50 But what we know is Arsenal got another three points.

10:52 They're in the box seat to to win the Premier League title.

10:56 But boy, the end of this season, it it's getting damn ugly.

11:00 All right, let's just remind you what the running is for both teams.

11:03 Man City have that extra game.

11:04 They take on Palace on Wednesday.

11:07 And then the running sees Arsenal taking Burnley, of course, already down.

11:10 Then Crystal Palace, who will just be days away from a Europa League final.

11:14 If you're Arsenal, Frank, you could hardly really draw up a better two games,

11:17 could you, to finish this season?

11:22 Well, the thing is you you should be comfortable to if you're Arsenal and if you

11:26 are confident about your game that you can

11:28 go and win the title because you deserve it.

11:31 Overall, Arsenal deserve to win the title.

11:33 What they've done during the season was better than the others.

11:36 Even if as Craig said, you know, they were they were quite dreadful lately.

11:41 But, they done the job and and they have 79 points and and they win big games,

11:46 important games when they need to.

11:48 And it's true that playing against Burnley or Crystal Palace shouldn't be

11:51 an issue and they should win the Premier League and rightly so.

11:55 But, uh um we don't know with Arsenal.

11:58 As as as we saw today, um West Ham between West Ham and Arsenal,

12:03 we could see the difference in the first half.

12:05 But, suddenly when Arsenal West Ham became a little bit physical,

12:09 um they match with Arsenal and Arsenal started to shake.

12:12 And I agree with Craig.

12:14 If Arteta makes the same mistakes next time somebody's injured and put

12:17 Declan Rice out of the game because it's what he did.

12:20 Put him out of the game for the first half.

12:22 He can be he can be surprised by for example

12:24 Crystal Palace at the last game of the season.

12:27 So, it's not over.

12:28 But, overall, if I'm Arsenal I'm an Arsenal player, I feel confident.

12:33 If I'm a citizen player, I have doubts.

12:36 I think I would say I would think that it's already over.

12:39 this game not only has significance in the title race,

12:41 but what's going on at the bottom of the table.

12:42 We now know without any question it is a two-horse race.

12:46 Leeds is safe.

12:47 [music] Forest is safe.

12:48 It is between Spurs and West Ham.

12:51 Spurs currently sitting one point ahead of West Ham.

12:54 Just a reminder, on Monday it's Spurs against Leeds.

12:56 And if they win that game,

12:58 they're then four points clear of the Hammers with two games remaining.

13:01 And I think Spurs are a bit and this is no guarantee they're going to stay up,

13:05 but I think Spurs are a better side.

13:07 I actually think West Ham are the third poorest side

13:10 in the league in terms of the way they play, in terms of the results.

13:13 I think Spurs are better.

13:15 I think Roberto De Zerbi's been able to have a short-term impact,

13:19 an impact that Nuno Espírito Santo hasn't really

13:21 been able to have over a much longer period.

13:25 And if you're asking me to put 100 bucks on it or whatever it is at the moment,

13:29 I'm putting it on West Ham to go.

13:31 Right.

13:31 I'm putting it on Spurs to beat Leeds who are safe even though it's Ellen Road.

13:35 Uh and I'm putting it on West Ham maybe to not even win another game.

13:39 Maybe not even win another point.

13:41 So, West Ham to go.

13:42 Uh thoughts?

13:43 Uh Spurs are at home tomorrow.

13:44 Just uh remind you about that.

13:46 So, so in theory, obviously against a Leeds side going in with a little

13:49 bit of of like confidence now considering what happened today, Frank.

13:52 It should be a good day for Spurs, but we've said that before.

13:57 Yes, yes.

13:58 I think they they should get a they should get along

14:00 very well and they and and and and be safe quite easily.

14:04 I I don't I don't see any surprises right now.

14:06 I mean, West Ham, they tried hard and they the fans were there

14:10 to supporting them and trying to to to to to help them out,

14:13 but uh I think it's over.

14:15 It's over.

14:16 I don't see Spurs, you know, losing against Leeds and losing another game where

14:20 I don't see West Ham winning anything else.

14:23 Uh of course, we'll be covering uh that game uh later.

14:34 [music]