Dean Ashton told the Football Show on Sky Sports on Tuesday that it’s ‘really sad’ that Michail Antonio opted against celebrating after scoring for West Ham on Monday night.
The West Ham attacker shared that he has halted his celebrations because VAR has previously ‘killed’ his celebrations by ruling his goals out, as he told Sky Sports.
Along with the abject decision-making from officials, that’s another big problem with VAR and how it’s taking the life and soul out of games.
And when Ashton, a former striker himself, heard about Antonio’s comments, he stated that it proves the ‘sad state of affairs’ for forwards when they now score in the world of VAR.
“It’s not him, either, is it?” said Ashton. “That’s what we have come to enjoy with Michail is his celebrations and what he is going to produce for us.
“When supporters are back into stadiums, they want to be entertained and that’s part of it.
“I thought it was a really sad part of his interview after the game that he said he felt he couldn’t do that because of a couple of instances where he’s gone to celebrate and then it’s been checked and chalked off.
“I guess that’s what VAR has brought to any striker and to any forward player is that doubt – it’s a sad state of affairs when as a forward, you feel like you cannot do a pre-routine celebration because of VAR.”
Even though VAR has been heavily criticised this season and the use of it, it’s here for the long run and Antonio may have to just bite the bullet and celebrate anyway.
The problem is that as players you would know what’s a tight call or what goal may get chalked off.
But VAR rules out near-on everything these days, which just makes life more difficult for those watching and playing the game.
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