LAURA WOODS: VAR RIGHT TO CHALK OFF WEST HAM GOAL

VAR GOT IT RIGHT

I don’t see the controversy that people are going mad for with the disallowed goal in the West Ham-Arsenal game.

You can’t grab a goalkeeper like that – across the neck and from the back too by grabbing his shirt and stopping him from jumping.

The argument seems to be ‘Arsenal have been getting away with that all season’ but I’m yet to see an example… by the nature of what people are saying it means they agree it was a foul, not a goal.

Sorry to the West Ham fans, but that’s football!

NOT RIGHT TO GET RID OF VAR

VAR doesn’t need to be binned.

I think it’s too late now and too much money has been invested into it for people to change their minds. What it needs is consistency and to be used correctly.

I’ve seen a lot of terrible decisions with VAR, but the game on Sunday was an occasion they got it right.

They need to use it a lot quicker too – the coordination between Stockley Park and the referees isn’t smooth. It’s clunky, delayed and it frustrates people.

Better officiating is needed and that’s the problem. There’s a severe lack of top-quality referees. You suddenly need a lot more on a single game because of the number needed in the VAR booth.

TITLE IN ARSENAL’S HANDS

The title is in Arsenal’s hands now.

They’ve come a long way and this isn’t just about this season, it’s about the last 20 years and the various eras this football club has had.

Against West Ham I thought Mikel Arteta made some strange decisions. Cristhian Mosquera not coming on for Ben White when he went off injured and Declan Rice dropping to right-back for a bit completely toppled the balance in midfield.

It wasn’t the right decision, but I thought Martin Ødegaard changed the game when he came on.

Everyone, including the manager, has to be perfect now. There’s no space for complacency. They have to be more switched on for these last two games than they have all season.

They cannot let it slip now.

CAN’T COMPARE WITH INVINCIBLES BUT DOUBLE WOULD BE AMAZING

I think ‘The Invincibles’ will always be in a class of their own.

I don’t like comparing achievements and I think it’s a totally different era now.

If Arsenal manage to win the Premier League after how much of a rebuild they’ve been through under Mikel Arteta and how close they’ve come in the last few years, it will be a phenomenal achievement in its own right.

If you add the Champions League to that, it will just be unbelievable.

And that’s a proper double in my eyes. The two most difficult competitions in club football to win, won in the same year would be incredible.

I don’t want to look too far ahead yet, though. PSG will be an incredibly difficult game, but I’m sure Arteta will have a plan for that too!

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