West Ham should agree with Charlie Austin’s VAR tirade

It’s not about the player or his team but rather the message. Southampton striker Charlie Austin went off in his post-match interview with BBC Sport calling out Premier League officiating after a controversial draw in match week twelve.

Here is the topic video:

Charlie Austin, who was sporting a bloodied eye after a match, was explaining a glaring issue with the Premier League – the officiating. The incident at hand was a borderline offside call that saw what would have been a game-deciding goal called back. Watford equalized in the 82nd minute and saw out a draw in this match.

As the table sits, Southampton are tied on points with the 17th place team but above on goal differential. Three points opposed to one would have slotted the Saints in 14th in the table and would have given them a needed gap from relegation.

Why is this relevant to West Ham? Because as a fellow non-top 6 team the ball always seems to roll the way of the big name clubs on close decisions. I’m not suggesting a conspiracy or anything, but it seems that close calls will favor the marquee clubs over the mid to lower table teams based solely on reputation. VAR ads some justice to the equation if implemented; no longer can referees ignore missed chances in favor of game flow.

Outside of the top-6 getting favorable decisions, West Ham saw two glaring misses from referees in their last two matches. The first was a tackle in Burnley’s box that brought down Grady Diangana. Diangana cut inside and beat his marker but was brought down after a cleat stuck in the top of his boot, completely missing the ball.

The second was talked about less but a blatant call that should have resulted in a penalty at Huddersfield Town. On a free kick taken by Robert Snodgrass, a Huddersfield defender located in the box jumped from his wall position, swung his elbow, and deflected the ball to safety away from the net. Shots too close to react don’t garner a foul, and arms that are hit but not extending from the body also don’t cause a card to be drawn – this was neither.

It seems like a foregone conclusion that VAR will be coming to the Premier League but what’s the hold-up? It’s used in many top-flight leagues across Europe and was steady enough to use at the World Cup this summer. It’s simply lazy that the Premier League hasn’t implemented it yet and it’s costing teams already. If Southampton get relegated by one or two points you can bet Charlie Austin will be on another tirade, and appropriately so.

With VAR voted in for use in the 2019/2020 season this is a massive step in the right direction, although there is literally no reason why this change couldn’t have taken place at year-end.