Ian Wright and Glenn Hoddle praised Reece James’ “clever” defending which might have saved Chelsea from a loss against West Ham United on Saturday.
The ball went past the two goalkeepers five times throughout the game, but the London derby ended in a 1-1 draw.
It is not often that we see three goals ruled out for offside in a match, which only shows how technology affects the game.
Kai Havertz and Joao Felix were each very close to punishing West Ham’s high defensive line in the first half, but the pass came slightly later than they would have wanted.
On the other hand, in the build-up to Tomas Soucek’s late offside goal, Wright and Hoddle noticed how James’ quick thinking saved Chelsea.
“Reece James, he pushed [Rice] into an offside position,” Wright told the Premier League Productions.
“So, even if he [Rice] came back a yard, he’d still be offside. It looked like Rice had gone back in to push James just to get a yard or something, but it was already too late.
In response, Hoddle pointed out that many players, including James, are taking advantage of how teams these days.
“Because of the [offside] rules now, players get into offside positions on purpose now [note: attacking team now tend to take more advantageous positions before the ball is kicked without being punished due to VAR],” he explained.
“James, he’s very clever. ‘You’re in an offside position, I’ll push you even further.'”
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