Daily Bits and Bobs

VAR strikes again.

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

This was a bad night for Arsenal. We’ve lost Eddie for three of the remaining five fixtures, we dropped two points and we conceded a goal for the first time in years! No Champions League for Arsenal next season. Again! The defending for Vardy’s goal was poor and not even the offside flag would save us this time. Same old Arsenal eh, weak in defence, soft to the core…

Some perspective please…

On, then off. That was Eddie Nketiah’s Arsenal night. A harsh decision? I don’t think so because by the letter of the footballing law, a red card was the right decision.

We can feel aggrieved because we’ve all seen similar challenges go by with just a booking. Jamie Vardy’s for example on Mustafi. Where was VAR then, they certainly weren’t replaying the ‘unintentional’ boot to the head of our German defender were they? There was no one whispering in Chris Kavanagh’s ear then, telling him to check the pitch side monitor for that one either. Apparently, VAR didn’t even review Vardy’s, unlike Eddie’s which went on for what seemed like an eternity.

 

 

In my opinion, Eddie was just over enthusiastic, Vardy though, well, just watch his eyes. I think he knew exactly what he was doing when he swung his leg at Mustafi’s head.

Once we’d gone down to ten men, Leicester were always going to put the pressure on. Eventually they got an equaliser thanks to the cheating little git who on another day, with another referee, wouldn’t have been on the pitch.

I didn’t think we were at our best until after we’d taken the lead. The goal came from a lovely pass by Ceballos, through the Leicester defence to Saka on the right. A little shimmy to beat his man followed by a cross into the box where Aubameyang was waiting to tap the ball past Schmeichel. The result really should have been put to bed after that. Saka, Lacazette and Hector Bellerin all had opportunities to extend our lead, but the best perhaps fell to Lacazette just five minutes before halftime. A better directed header would have left Schmeichel beaten.

The knives will be out this morning because it’s always easy for a sportswriter to know better, a bloke, or woman for that matter, who has never stepped foot into the game. Tapping away on their keyboard is their thing. The harsher words written, the better the article where Arsenal are concerned.

This is Arsenal going through huge changes, two points dropped is nothing compared to the bigger picture being gradually painted. Yes, the draw has put a dent into our Champions League hopes but I think that hope was always an unlikely ending to our season. Too much damage had been done long before Mikel Arteta arrived. Even a Europa League finish looked out of reach. Unlike now.

Last night was frustrating, annoying and yes, we should have defended better for their goal. Much better and Mikel Arteta will know that too but that’s our defending as a whole. Brilliant one minute, lose focus the next. The criticism shouldn’t always fall on their shoulders in my opinion, especially when up the other end of the pitch, opportunities to kill the game off had been squandered.

This Arsenal squad should feel hurt by Eddie’s sending off, aggrieved that Vardy wasn’t dealt with in the same way, furious that they’ve dropped two points against a Leicester team which really don’t look like a top four side.

Take that feeling into our next fixture and make amends.

See you in the comments guys.

 

 

 

 

 

rico

41 thoughts on “VAR strikes again.”

  1. andrewh1313 says:

    Morning rico, House. Well summed up, Vardy wasn’t even booked as ‘unintentional’, but on a bouncing ball Eddie obviously intended it! Double standards as usual. But I thought a good performance, no one should be hard on a defence that’s let in one goal in three matches. The other end, we should have scored three, but for a very good goalie and a poor header from a superb cross. Liking our wingbacks, Bellerin better, and Tierney so many good low crosses across goal. Get in at the near post strikers, you know what’s coming. Ceballos and Tierney my men of the match.

  3. rico says:

    Morning Andrew, spookily, I said similar about Tierney’s crosses last night. He’s the best crosser of the ball we’ve had for a while and we can see where many go when he’s stretched but our front players aren’t getting there. We could get a few goals from his near post, or a productive knock on for someone else.

  5. potter says:

    Posted this morning as this post went up .

    My problem with Stockley Park is we know who is in the ref’s ear but we don’t know who is in his ear.. Last night as the replays got slower and the tackle was made more dramatic Stuart Attwell , I believe , took far too long to advise Kavanagh ,so my question is who was talking to Kavanagh . Was it the same person who said ” Nothing to see here ” as Vardy caught Mustafi in the face ?
    Anyone who has played football knows that if you want to leave one on an opponent the old falling down trick is as good as any. I don’t believe that it was a deliberate attempt to knock his teeth out but he was well aware of the swinging leg and it’s affect. But it begs the question of why it was not inspected .
    Football is changing , apart from the Quatar drinks / advert breaks coming in the next world cup games are now being refereed remotely. As people like Riley retire and their on pitch bias is removed they have wormed their way into a position where they can continue to affect things and the man on the pitch is little more than a pawn with a whistle.
    Kavanagh saw Eddie in real time and made his decision , someone else wanted it to be a red and the cicus went into overdrive. The decision was made well in the knowledge that it would affect the outcome of the game and it was made to slow down Arsenal’s and Arteta’s momentum . If you are to look at these decisions in isolation then possibly they were both reds or both yellows but not one red and one nothing at all.

  6. rico says:

    Agree Potter, the fact that Vardy didn’t even get booked makes the whole system floored and very much open to criticism and allegations of bias. The latter I believe is very clear and obvious p, unlike some of the VAR decisions being made.

    I do think we can all have a guess at who is in the ear of VAR and the sooner that man retires the better.

  8. rico says:

    Further re Vardy, is the word ‘reckless’ not included with the laws of football relating to tackles? If him swinging his leg out in an unnatural way as he did isn’t reckless, I don’t know what is.

  9. Sue says:

    Morning folks… nice post, Rico… I can’t help but feel disappointed this morning…. we were cruising, then bang!! You just knew Vardy would score – 10 in 10 now… I can’t stand the sight of him! Felt exactly the same over Hazard, Drogba, Rooney, Fowler… and Kane!!! ☹
    Bye bye CL… I’d say that already big mountain we had to climb – getting into Europe – is now the size of Everest!! We’ll just have to pray on other results as well as City’s ban standing!

    I agree with Andrew, Ceballos and Tierney were my men of the match!! They were fantastic!! Back to being disappointed….sigh…..😅😅

  10. ScottfromOz says:

    Morning all.
    Vardy’s foul was 100% intentional.
    Imo, Eddie tried pulling out of the challenge and there was no intent, so a yellow would’ve have sufficed but I can’t absolutely crucify the decision, either.
    Can the Vardy incident be looked at after the event??
    It damn well should, as he easily could have hit Mustafi in the eye.

  11. rico says:

    Thanks Sue, I’m disappointed but I think in some ways I expected a few ups and downs and this one was up there with being one of the downs. Once we’d scored though, I thought we go on a get a few and we had the chances.

    The only consolation is that we didn’t lose.

    Plenty to be positive about though I reckon.

  13. Sue says:

    Yes if we had lost, that would’ve been the first time since 1973… I’d have been inconsolable 😄 So I guess we got away with one!
    I agree – plenty of positives… and I believe we’ll only get better! Oh well onto Sunday… and Mike Dean isn’t officiating *faint* it’s Michael Oliver!!!

  15. Sue says:

    Surprisingly not, Rico…. Paul Tierney! Although I’m beginning to think they’re all as bad (bent) as each other!!

  16. Le Coq Monster says:

    Never saw that headline, Rico, but it was bloody obvious to someone with the immense use of the english language for wit as me! 😆

  17. rico says:

    I thought the guy who officiated our Saints or Sheffield Utd match was good Sue. The guy from Oxfordshire I think it was..

  18. Aussie Geoff says:

    Hi Rico and All Just watched interview with Arteta and he said if Eddie’s was a red card then Jamie Vardy should have been as well, now that’s what I want to see is Arteta come out and question the officials not this crap like some other coaches that sit back and say nothing

  20. ScottfromOz says:

    Rico, yes, too late for us but still, that little weasel scumbag deserves a decent suspension.

  21. Sue says:

    Well Dier won’t be playing Sunday… he has a 4 match ban for confronting that fan. Why didn’t he take his own advice – telling Ramsey to ‘sit back down’……

    Rico.. yes that ref from Oxfordshire was good…. I doubt we’ll ever have him again 😂 and what can I say – he’s from Oxfordshire of course he’s gonna be good 😉😂😂

  22. Cicero says:

    G’day all and thanks, Rico, for the post.

    There is no doubt that Nketiah’s dismissal altered the whole dynamic of the game and as such there must be question marks against the VAR involvement.

    Yes it was a clumsy challenge, by a player just introduced to the game and with, no doubt, his coaches words ringing in his ears. Press the defenders, try to snatch the ball and chase everything.

    He did exactly that, he went for a fifty fifty ball and caught the defenders leg, not high and not with intent to cause injury. The referee gave a foul and cautioned him, so far so usual.

    As I understand the protocols the VAR can get involved if in his opinion the on-field referee has made a “clear and obvious error”. What was clear from the number of times the VAR viewed the incident, without coming to a definite conclusion, that any error was anything but clear and obvious. Only then did the referee go to the pitch-side monitor to see for himself, after a mere two looks at the tackle he changed his mind and showed Nketiah a red card. IF the VAR couldn’t decide after multiple viewings from a variety of camera angles how could the referee decide after just a cursory glance at the monitor.

    During the last game Wolves had a couple of “goals” rightly chalked off by the VAR for offside and they probably felt aggrieved so no doubt someone somewhere felt some evening up was appropriate.

  23. potter says:

    Spurs , Liverpool, Man City out.and then back for Villa and Watford. It cuts down Arteta’s options and makes life a little easier for Mourinho , Klopp and Guardiola to do their planning.. It’s either Auba down the middle with Pepe and Saka out wide with Nelson and Willock in the wings or keep lacazette and have Pepe on the bench .
    Yes it’s good to see Arteta standing up for the club against the PGMOL it’s probably an overhang from his days as a player because since he went and Wenger retired nothing has changed in Riley’s .

  25. Joaquim Moreira says:

    Almost all of the fouls on Lacazette behind were yellow.
    At the end of the game, as usual: 0 yellow cards.

  31. rico says:

    Afternoon all.

    I saw that too Dick but he carried on so fingers crossed it was nothing much.

    I’m glad we’re appealing the red card, especially as Vardy’s incident is likely to face no further investigation.

  34. Le Coq Monster says:

    Just looked up Sue`s link and what struct me was Mustafi`s buzz cut is like mine!………………..although my hair is grey!…………………more sophisticated! 😆

  36. Le Coq Monster says:

    Anyone see the newsnow news story this morning about …………Dutch Police Arrest 6 Men After Uncovering Makeshift Soundproof ‘Torture Chamber’ in a container?…………….well aparrently two of the victims, Deluded Dave and Gullible Gary from Bruce Grove, London N17 were made to watch excruciating painfull videos of Arsenal success over the years and also made to watch a video of cobwebs growing in Totnumbs empty trophy cabinet!

  39. allezkev says:

    Yes I saw that Sue, what a spiteful, nasty bastard that Tarkowski, shades of Keane on Haaland.

    I thought that the FA could charge players retrospectively, but maybe that would be too much of an embarrassment to the PGMOL and their VAR baby?

    It’s all bent…

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