Thierry Henry Suggests Radical Solution to Curb VAR Controversy After Arsenal Defeat

• Thierry Henry was critical of the VAR after Arsenal’s 2-0 defeat to West Ham
• Tomas Soucek’s opener was scrutinized as the ball appeared to have gone out of play
• Henry suggested the use of a bird’s eye view camera to curb marginal errors

Thierry Henry came up with a unique solution to curb the VAR controversy in the Premier League.

The Arsenal legend called on the introduction of bird’s eye view cameras to be applied in the English top flight after Tomas Soucek’s controversial opener in the London derby on Thursday, December 28.

Jarrod Bowen cut the ball back for Soucek to score, but replays suggested the ball went out of play before Bowen connected with it.

After a lengthy review from VAR official Craig Pawson, the goal was allowed to stand since there was insufficient evidence to suggest the ball had gone out of play.

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According to The Mirror, this was the second time this season that the Gunners had conceded a goal from a situation where the ball initially seemed to have gone out of play. The first time was during a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United in November.

And Arsenal’s all-time goal scorer was among those who were critical of the VAR and called on the Premier League to introduce new measures.

"That is the second time for us along with Newcastle away. If you want to help the referees to get the right angles when the ball is out, you have to be above the ball. There is no other way to see whether the ball is out or not.” Henry told Amazon Prime.

He added: "We are in 2023, nearly 2024, and we still don’t have a camera from above. It’s too many times where you don’t know whether the ball is pulled back, the ball is out. Can we have a camera that can be above that we can see if the ball is out or not?"

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Henry insisted it was impossible to see whether the ball had gone out of play without certain camera angles.

But fellow pundit Alan Shearer, on duty with Henry on Thursday evening, supported the call to give West Ham the goal because of ‘inconclusive evidence’.

Why the goal was allowed to stand

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg also explained why the goal was allowed to stand. According to him, since the assistant referee on the touchline did not say the ball had gone out of play, the on-field decision had to stand.

Arteta on VAR

Sports Brief also reported on Mikel Arteta’s take on the VAR after Arsenal’s defeat to West Ham.

After the game, Mikel Arteta refused to blame the VAR technology for his side’s defeat, conceding that the team needed to improve.

Arsenal will hope to bounce back to winning ways when they take on Fulham in another London derby on Sunday, December 31.