VAR has been in the headlines a lot recently, unfortunately for the wrong reasons.
The decision to rule out West Ham’s equaliser against Chelsea was absolutely ridiculous, and again at Old Trafford yesterday, I predicted that a VAR decision would go against us…
I can’t help that the terrible VAR decisions yesterday are a prelude to another terrible decision which will happen at Old Trafford…#MUNARS
In the 13th minute, Odegaard dispossessed Christian Eriksen on the halfway line, Arsenal broke at speed and then Martinelli scored a fantastic goal.
Bruno Fernandes moaned like a little girl (like he usually does) and the referee took a look at VAR.
And we all know what happened next.
Paul Tierney went over to the monitor, “reviewed” the incident and then ruled the goal out for a foul on Eriksen.
Are you kidding me?
Before any Manchester United fans come at me, yes, there was contact. But is football a non-contact sport now?! The decision was absolutely ridiculous and I defy anyone to argue that Eriksen didn’t go down easily – and if you look at the footage closely, he actually starts to fall before Odegaard’s knee connects with him.
The decision was ludicrous, and it completely changed the game.
With Arsenal in the lead, Manchester United wouldn’t have been able to sit back and get us on the counter attack. You can say whatever you want about Arteta’s tactics and how the team was setup, but the first goal always shapes how the game goes and I have no doubt with United having to open up, we would have gone on to score 2 or even 3 goals and win that game.
Small decisions make big impacts and the referees and VAR need to get their act together because the spirit of the game is being ruined.
But did you think Arsenal’s goal should have stood? Cast your vote below and leave your thoughts in the comments section!
In a completely dominate display, Arsenal scored a goal which was chalked off because Odegaard was seen to have fouled Eriksen. After seeing multiple replays, it was clear the Dane went down easily, collapsing under the presence of Odegaard.
Manchester United were happy to sit deep and absorb the pressure, something you would expect from a team battling relegation.
But fine margins make all the difference and after our goal was unfairly ruled out, United scored goals which were fortunate to say the least.
The first goal was against the run of play, and the second only went in when the ball took a deflection off Ben White taking it past Aaron Ramsdale. And the third, was another goal off the break.
I thought Erik ten Haag was brought in to bring expansive and exciting football to Old Trafford?
The performance from Arsenal was excellent, and against talking about fine margins – we just couldn’t take advantage of the openings we created. Gabriel Jesus was outstanding, terrorising the United defence and causing all kinds of problems – but when the chances came we were found wanting.
Odegaard sliced a chance from 5 yards out when he should have scored, Saka lashed a shot past the post when he should have scored – the big, clear cut chances came Arsenal’s way and we couldn’t find the net.
A disappointing defeat, one which ends our winning run and I’m sure the media will be happy with that. But come end of the season, I guarantee we will be above this Manchester United side.
The way the Arsenal fans treated this great man was disgusting…
Arsene Wenger left Arsenal in the summer of 2018, which was only 3 short years ago. Since then, Arsenal have been in absolute free fall.
In Arsene’s final season, we finished 6th in the Premier League and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League. Things we would probably kill for now.
The final seasons of Arsene’s reign were uncomfortable to watch and at the time, I was always an Arsene supporter. He had single-handedly dragged our great club to the peak of the Premier League, when the only side that was winning was Manchester United. Clubs like Newcastle, Leeds United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham were all fighting to compete in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, but it was Arsenal who would offer the biggest threat and would even topple the red side of Manchester a few times.
Arsene also had great ambition and vision, which lead to the move to The Emirates Stadium. This was to ensure we could compete with the biggest teams when it came to spending money in the transfer market – and that’s certainly true as Arsenal have spent around £400 million alone on transfer fees since Arsene Wenger left the club. So we’re in a healthy position financially.
But while we have the funds to compete, we are is a right mess. 3 games into the new season, we sit bottom of the league, with our friends Tottenham Hotspur sitting at the top. Bad times indeed.
But how did we get to this? I guarantee that if Arsene Wenger was still at the club, we wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in now.
Arsene commanded great respect in the dressing room but also in the board room. None of this mess with the board, Edu and the men at the top who have since left would have happened. We signed dead wood like David Luiz and Cedric because Edu is mates with their agent! We’ve had the money but signed absolute duds just so we could line the pockets of Edu’s pals. It’s a disgrace.
On the pitch, it’s not much better. I like Mikel Arteta, I really do, but why on earth did we bring him to the club? This is a man with ZERO management experience.
You can laugh and joke all you like about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and other ex-professionals that have tried their hand at management – but at least they have SOME management experience! It’s absolutely insane to think that someone who has never managed in their life would come into the club and improve the situation. But that’s a reflection on the people running the club.
And I think the biggest issue right now is we have no identity. When you watch any other team in the Premier League, after 5 minuets of watching them you understand how they’re trying to play – there’s a game plan and method to their patterns of play. With Arsenal, I don’t know what I’m watching, seriously. What are we trying to do? We’re not direct, we’re not playing through the wings, we’re not playing through the lines – what instructions is Mikel Arteta giving the players? Because they look completely clueless when they’re on the pitch!
At least with Arsene Wenger, we had a plan. It was attack, attack, attack, and although it left us exposed, at least we scored goals! Now we have ZERO goal threat and just concede goals.
I’ve always said with Arsene Wenger we would score goals and concede goals. With Unai Emery, we scored less goals but conceded less goals. Now, with Arteta, we don’t score any goals and just concede loads of them. So in 3 seasons we’ve dramatically gone downhill.
We are currently 20th in the Premier League after 3 games, and there’s a long way to go and we probably won’t be there at the end of the season. But unless things change, and quickly, then we’re not going to get much higher in the league!
The reaction to the formation of the new European Super League has been quite astounding, really.
Every man and their dog has expressed outrage – ex-players, pundits, bloggers, supporters, radio stations, fans groups… the list goes on. But it strikes me that people are being outraged without understanding what is actually happening.
Which is some of Europe’s biggest teams have decided to start their own competition. That’s literally it.
They haven’t said they would leave their domestic leagues (in our case the Premier League) so what’s the problem? That Arsenal might not participate in the FA Cup? Well that hasn’t been decided yet has it? People are completely freaking out for no reason!
This is a model Arsene Wenger said 11 years ago that would happen “within 10 years”, and as usually Arsene was pretty much on the money.
The argument about greed is just laughable. The boat sailed a long time ago, back in 1992 when the Premier League was formed. Did anyone care about the negative affect it would have on lower leagues? No. Did they care that the extra money used to buy foreign talent would stifle our English youth? No. The hypocrisy is real.
The bottom line is the Premier League and UEFA let this happen with the way they behaved, and a European Super League should be no surprise – Arsene Wenger knew this would happen over a decade ago!
The Premier League let clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have owners that had questionable backgrounds come in and splash obscene amounts of money so that they could get the best players and increase the viewership worldwide. You realise the PL make insane money from worldwide TV rights don’t you?
And UEFA? They pretended to implemented FFP (Financial Fair Play) but let the richest clubs (Manchester City, PSG, etc.) break these rules time and time again without punishment.
Why? Because UEFA are corrupt and again, all they want is the best players so they have the highest viewing figures possible.
This is something which has been on the cards for a long long time, and the hypocrisy and outrage from these so called pundits is laughable.
The overreaction to the formation of the European Super League is absolutely ridiculous. It’s similar to the hysteria about Brexit and scaring people into leaving the EU.
It’s a model used all over the sporting world. People need to stop being so naive – Arsene Wenger said 10 years ago that there would be a European Super League by 2022.
The argument about greed is utterly moronic. That boat sailed a long time ago with the start of the Premier League, and it set back lower league sides for decades while making PL sides richer and richer.
And Arsene predicted that this would happen directly because of the behaviour or the Premier League and UEFA.
The Premier League let clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City have owners that had questionable backgrounds come in and splash obscene amounts of money so that they could get the best players and increase the viewership worldwide. You realise the PL make insane money from worldwide TV rights don’t you?
And UEFA? They pretended to implemented FFP (Financial Fair Play) but let the richest clubs (Manchester City, PSG, etc.) break these rules time and time again without punishment.
Why? Because UEFA are corrupt and again, all they want is the best players so they have the highest viewing figures possible.
This is something which has been on the cards for a long long time, and the hypocrisy and outrage from these so called pundits is laughable.
Ever since the Premier League was formed in 1992 all football has ever been about is money. So why are people shocked when years later, a money driven decision is made by the top clubs.
