Roberto De Zerbi shares his honest thoughts on the Arsenal and West Ham VAR drama
Tottenham manager Roberto De Zerbi has shared his thoughts on the recent VAR drama between West Ham and Arsenal.
West Ham had a late goal in the 95th minute ruled out during their 1-0 loss to Arsenal on Sunday because of a foul on goalkeeper David Raya. Jean-Clair Todibo was seen pulling Raya’s shirt while competing for a corner, and striker Pablo also put his arm into Raya’s neck.
There have been different opinions about whether the call was right. Danny Murphy, on Match of the Day, said that if it wasn’t for Arsenal being involved, people might not even be talking about it.
West Ham is reportedly planning to complain to PGMOL, the Premier League’s refereeing group, about the decision. Former ref Dermot Gallagher told Sky Sports VAR made the right call, saying there was a lot happening in the play, but the first foul by Pablo was clear.
After Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Leeds on Monday, De Zerbi was asked about the VAR incident. Spurs actually faced VAR decisions twice in the game—Leeds got a penalty over a high boot from Mathys Tel, and then a penalty was denied to Leeds in injury time after a clash between James Maddison and Lukas Nmecha.
Because of all this, VAR was a big topic in De Zerbi’s post-game talk. He mentioned the Raya incident, saying, “I think the officials weren’t calm today. Maybe they felt pressure from yesterday’s West Ham and Arsenal VAR situation. We felt pressure too because of how fast the ball was moving and the chaos on the field. We didn’t play with passion; it was all a bit frantic. But the referee wasn’t calm either. I don’t get the argument about yesterday’s VAR—Raya was fouled 200%, not just 100%. If we’re talking about football, that’s clear.”