West Ham United manager David Moyes did not hold back in his criticism of VAR following his team’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool.
The home side were denied a stoppage-time penalty when Thiago Alcantara handled the ball in the Liverpool box. Nothing was given and the defeat leaves West Ham 14th, five points clear of the relegation zone.
“If you go to ground in the box, you’re taking a risk.”
Joe Cole, @CarltonCole1 and @petercrouch discuss whether West Ham should’ve been awarded a penalty late on against Liverpool 😮 pic.twitter.com/D7LXJ02CZg
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) April 26, 2023
“I think the hardest thing to take is the disrespect from VAR that VAR wouldn’t have at least said, ‘This might be worth taking a look,” he said. “So that is telling me then that they don’t see that as even close to a decision. I am surprised. Someone in VAR didn’t have enough football knowledge to think that might be close. VAR, for me, showed no respect to us that this could be close and worth a call.”
What happened?
In the latter stages of the game, substitute Thiago lunged in on Danny Ings in the penalty area. The ball bounced up and struck Thiago’s left arm, hitting it more than once. Moyes and first-team coaches Kevin Nolan and Paul Nevin pursued fourth official Andy Davies for clarification.
When referee Chris Kavanagh blew for full-time, Moyes, along with unused substitutes Alphonse Areola and Angelo Ogbonna, asked the referee why a penalty was not awarded. They did not receive a response and Neil Swarbrick, who was the VAR official, did not deem it worthy of a review.
“I didn’t have a chance before I spoke to the ref but I have had a chance to see it since,” Moyes said. “The difference for me — and you’ll probably hear them coming out with some rubbish about him needing to break his fall — well, if you lunge at the ball you know it’s your own fault for lunging and being out of control in the tackle.
“You can break your fall by sliding down and having to put your arm down, but he lunged for the ball. For me that completely nullifies anything about breaking the fall. I think it’s a penalty kick.”
What is the handball rule?
The rule states it is an offence if a player is considered to have made their body unnaturally bigger when the position of their hand/arm is not a consequence of, or justifiable by, the player’s body movement for that specific situation. By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised.
The likely explanation from PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) will be Thiago’s hand was in a natural position when his left arm connected with the ball. But Moyes and his backroom staff believe Thiago’s hand was in that position because of his lunge on Ings.
“I think I have had enough games and I have played football for a long time that I know when it happens,” said Moyes. “The handball rule has changed dramatically and I don’t like a lot of it. Do I think that the boy meant for it to hit his hand? No, he didn’t. But do I think he got his hand in the way of a ball going through made by his own actions? Yes, I do.”
Cases for a penalty
Earlier this month during the 2-2 draw against Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s side were awarded a penalty when Michail Antonio was penalised for handball. Following VAR checks, Antonio’s arm was adjudged to have been in an unnatural position. The forward attempted to block Gabriel Martinelli’s shot, with the ball hitting his outstretched arm as he turned away.
It is not dissimilar to Thiago’s handball, which highlights the lack of consistency.
On the penalty decision, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said: “I thought he (Thiago) just fell on the ball, but I can see why Moyes would think different.”
What did the pundits think?
BT Sport pundits Joe Cole, Peter Crouch and Carlton Cole were all in agreement that it was a penalty.
“I understand David’s frustrations,” said former West Ham midfielder Joe Cole. “If you go to ground in the box, you’re taking a risk of giving away a penalty with a foul or with your arm. You have to benefit attacking play and you have to punish poor defending. For me it’s a penalty.”
“We’ve seen some ridiculous ones this year where you cannot get your hand out the way,” said Crouch. “He’s lunged in where it’s hit his hand twice. I don’t like the (handball) rule but it has to be a penalty.”
“The referee should have blown initially,” added ex-West Ham forward Carlton Cole. “He saw it, it was right in front of him. It hit Thiago’s hand — he has to blow his whistle. Then after they can make a decision whether it’s a penalty or not.”
What next?
“They might need to apologise to the football club because we’re trying to get points to be a Premier League team,” Moyes said.
PGMOL has apologised once to Arsenal and twice to Brighton this season after errors by officials in Premier League matches. The club may try to seek clarification from the referees’ body.
It is not the first time Moyes has been frustrated over the use of VAR. A controversial overruling by VAR official Jarred Gillett chalked off Maxwel Cornet’s goal in the 2-1 loss at Chelsea in September, with Jarrod Bowen deemed to have fouled goalkeeper Edouard Mendy in the build-up.
“It is an unbelievable decision against us,” said Moyes at the time. “I’ve lost faith in them after that today. I’ve lost faith in the people who are putting it up for VAR. After watching it, I can’t see how the goal is not given.”
Moyes will hope there will be no more contentious decisions in their bid to secure Premier League safety. West Ham travel to Crystal Palace on Saturday their recent performances have been encouraging. The east London club have scored 11 goals in their past four games and the attacking trio of Lucas Paqueta, Antonio and Bowen will aim to continue their impressive offensive displays.
(Top photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)