---
title: "“I cannot understand”: West Ham goalkeeper voices frustration over late call"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2026/05/11/mads-hermansen-west-ham-1-0-arsenal/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Matt Bottomley"
section: "West Ham News"
published: "2026-05-11T07:00:00Z"
modified: "2026-05-11T08:47:40Z"
---

# “I cannot understand”: West Ham goalkeeper voices frustration over late call

- **West Ham lost 1-0 to Arsenal on Sunday**
- **VAR overturned a late equaliser for the Hammers**
- **The call has been disputed by everyone at West Ham and several in the football iundustry**

West Ham United fell victim to controversial VAR call as they lost 1-0 to Arsenal. The Hammers believed they had equalised in stoppage time, [only for VAR to overturn the goal](https://readwestham.com/2026/05/11/nuno-espirito-santo-west-ham-loss-arsenal/) due to an alleged foul on Gunners goalkeeper, David Raya.

The call compounded [West Ham](https://readwestham.com/) to defeat, [leaving them staring down the barrel of Premier League relegation](https://readwestham.com/2026/05/10/west-ham-0-1-arsenal-premier-league/), whilst it also gives [Arsenal](https://readarsenal.com/) one hand on the league title.

[Mads Hermansen](https://readwestham.com/2026/05/10/west-ham-vs-arsenal-player-ratings/), the Hammers own shot stopper, told the [club’s official website](https://www.whufc.com/en/news/hermansen-or-we-just-want-consistency-throughout-the-season) that all they want is consistency from officials, and that he does not understand the call.

*“I’m just really, really angry about this,”* he said. *“I can’t understand from a goalkeeping perspective during a full season of illegal blocks and pulling and pushing on corners to make such a call in a game like this.*

*“I cannot understand. I agree you can see grabs and you can give it as a foul but you have to be consistent during the season.*

*“We just watched it again. You can see Dinos is getting pulled, Tomáš is getting pulled. And yes, even Pablo before he apparently committed a foul is getting pulled around.*

*“I think you can give a foul but you need to do it every time.*

*“You need to give it throughout the season. You can ask every goalkeeper in the league. They’ve been pulled, blocked illegally, stuff like this.*

*“It’s beyond my… I cannot understand why at this moment he will give it and stand there for four minutes, five minutes and try to find it.”*

## The decision impacts more than just the players at West Ham

The decision, that will be debated for some time, does not just affect the players in this [West Ham](https://readwestham.com/2026/05/10/west-ham-united-upton-park-final-game-on-this-day/) team. Hermansen knows this, and it only adds the the Danish goalkeeper’s anger.

*“This is our career, this is our life,”* he continued.

*“We have families we work so hard for to be at this level. So many people in this Club. It just means so much also for the fans.*

*“This \[game today\] is our level as a team.*

*“During the season we haven’t played to this but we know we’ve been able to. So yes, we played a good game and we gave them a good fight. I think we deserve so much more.*

*“Our only opportunity \[now is\] to go and win. So that’s what we have to do.*

*“We have two games like we just said. There’s no need to give up because we can still make it.”*