In the Premier League, West Ham United takes on Burnley on Sunday, and David Moyes will not be pleased with the most recent official announcement made in advance of the match.
This coming Saturday, West Ham faces a struggling Burnley team, and David Moyes will be desperate to win three straight Premier League games.
Over the last two weeks, the Hammers have been considerably better, and things truly do appear to be improving. Nevertheless, Moyes is reportedly under pressure, with players like Marco Silva seemingly in line to take his job.
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That would definitely be the ideal way to handle things from the owners, and I have no doubts that the Scot will remain West Ham’s manager for the remainder of the season. Right now, we have the opportunity to still have a very successful 2023–2024 campaign, both nationally and around the continent.
It’s reasonable to say that the next seven days might wind up defining our season, with our Premier League matchup with Burnley taking place the week after our two Europa League matches against Freiburg.
But prior to West Ham’s match against the Clarets at the London Stadium, there’s some unpleasant news.
Announcement made ahead of West Ham vs Burnley
The Premier League have announced that Andrew Madley will be on VAR duty for our clash with Burnley at the London Stadium this weekend.
It’s unclear why he is still permitted to officiate our games, to be honest.
When Madley officiated the West Ham vs. Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge last season, it was one of the worst officie performances you will ever witness.
Maxwel Cornet gave the Hammers a crucial late equalizer, but Madley disregarded the Ivorian’s effort after sending him to the pitchside monitor.
You could argue that Madley wasn’t really at fault because he initially permitted the goal to stand.
However, the 40-year-old could have been stronger in is conviction, and argued the case with the VAR officials – something that Moyes pointed out to the press after the game.
“It’s one [a decision] as bad as I’ve ever had. For a decision to be overturned for that, I just find it incredible. I’m really disappointed VAR would even consider sending the referee to the monitor. The referee then sometimes has to be tough as well. I’ve seen all the angles, I’ve seen all the pictures. The goalkeeper spills the ball, and if anything he then fakes a shoulder injury, which he did for the first goal to be fair. And he conned the referee into that, so there’s nothing we can do.”
It was an extremely startling choice, and both the Premier League and VAR finally acknowledged that they were incorrect.
The last thing West Ham needs is to lose at Burnley this weekend in the Premier League, where the battle for sixth place is getting more intense.
Ideally, Madley stays out of the game as much as possible. If, following the game, no one is talking about his performance on VAR, then he did his job well.
