Pundit can’t believe ‘blatant’ Tomas Soucek footage at West Ham – ‘give up on VAR’
Noel Whelan has again called for ex-players to be included in the VAR decision-making process after West Ham star Tomas Soucek was denied a “blatant” penalty against Southampton.
The former Leeds striker, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested the officials’ reluctance to act meant the Irons were prevented from coming away from St Marys’ Stadium “with everything” on Sunday (16 October).
As shown on the BBC’s Match of the Day 2 (16 October), Southampton’s Romain Perraud brought down Tomas Soucek in the penalty area in the first half.
Declan Rice’s second-half strike cancelled out Perraud’s first-half opener to send both teams home with a point.
Speaking to Sky Sports post-match (16 October), Hammers boss David Moyes slammed a “poor day of officiating” and insisted VAR official Simon Hooper should have “a right good look at himself”.
Whelan called on the Premier League to “give up on VAR” if they aren’t willing to introduce some “big changes” in coming seasons.
He told Football Insider’s Ewan Kingsbury: “We keep seeing incidents like this again and again, and we keep going back to them.
“We should be talking about good defending or attacking play, not talking about VAR getting these decisions wrong yet again.
“It just takes away from the spectacle of two teams fighting for the points. This decision stops West Ham from potentially coming away with everything.
“They’ve got to get these blatant incidents right. I keep saying they need an ex-player in the VAR to give their expertise.
“If they don’t make some big changes you may as well give up on VAR – there’ll be uproar every week.”
In other news, pundit fears for West Ham after Craig Dawson exit update.