Arsenal’s big problems: VAR and finishing

VAR has been a constant enemy for Arsenal all season, seeing numerous goals and decisions be turned against the Gunners in critical points of matches. ESPN has ranked them the number one team in the Premier League that has been negatively affected by VAR, with seven overturns not in favour of Mikel Arteta’s side.

The latest VAR crime was in the Premier League home visit of Everton, when Nicolas Pepe was controversially ruled offside in the build-up to a penalty award. This was soul crushing for the Arsenal team and fans, who thought they were going to have their best chance of taking the lead in an important game, even if it wasn’t unfamiliar technological territory.

Although I agree VAR is something that is incredibly unreliable and inconsistent, Arsenal supporters should not blame the woes of the season on it. Yes, VAR has taken points from Arsenal, but a lot of those games saw the side create little to nothing and there is starting to be an air of VAR getting used an excuse for bad performances.

VAR is a part of the game, we all know this, whether we like it or not. Arsenal need to be more clinical and efficient in the final third, so VAR is not the deciding factor of games. If the Gunners could convert their chances, the technology would not take so many points from us. That is a fact.

Arsenal’s big problems ahead of Villarreal Europa League semi-final are VAR and finishing

If the team produce the football all Arsenal supporters know they’re capable of, there should be less occasions where VAR will have such a drastic influence in the matches. They wouldn’t be grumbled over since they wouldn’t be the focus.

Arsenal is either great or poor, no in-between or consistency in the slightest. A lot of the games are particularly hard to watch with no penetrative link-up play, looking flat, being slow through the thirds and, to be completely honest, lost in at attacking sense. Fans can’t be content with blaming VAR on making one bad call during games while Arsenal has put out uninspiring football most of the 2020/2021 campaign.

We know VAR will screw us over, we are Arsenal. This league seems to be out to get us. This whole debate could be majorly eliminated with precise and clinical finishing, something the Gunners sorely lack and have done all term.

Will converting be a problem for the Villarreal fixtures? Will Arsenal get the short end of the stick from VAR again?

Centre-forward has been a key talking point lately, especially with such a big game coming up this week. How will Arteta pick his team? Everyone will have seen Folarin Balogun not listed in the Under-23 squad that faced Leicester on Monday, which breathed hope that he could appear against Unai Emery’s squad and inject some life and energy up front.

The question every fan is wondering is that will the Gunners be able to convert their chances, or will VAR come in and ruin the party yet again. Nothing more than a positive mindset and belief in the squad will do. Simply hit the back of the net and don’t let video technology be your undoing.