VAR

[River Don]

Quite a good piece in today's paper about it.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/jan/23/he-shoots-he-scores-or-does-he-how-var-changed-football-for-ever

I was one of those people who was always, always against it. I could see how it would disrupt the flow of the game, leading to boring waiting around. For me it was going to be the American footballisation of football. Leading to more of a stop start game. That has begun to happen. What I did not foresee was how often perfectly good goals would be chalked off. It's a double whammy.

Be that as it may, and feeling vindicated as I do, I wonder where they go with this now? The game is changed and not for the better but there is a feeling we can't go back. People still insist we'll get used to it.

I wonder if they limit the number of replays, perhaps only reviewing if a manager demands it. Even then we will still have to suffer perfectly good goals being disallowed after lengthy reviews because a players hand was technically off.

I simply won't get used to football being more crap to watch.

[Janso]

Said it before on here, if they can't work it out within 30 seconds it isn't a big enough error to overturn.

[RobTheRover]

It has to be like rugby and in the control of the on-pitch ref.  The ref makes the award and then asks VAR to check for what he thinks might have been an infringement.  And only that gets checked to satisfy the ref.

VAR is a classic case of money ruining the game.  A decision here and there overturned could be the difference between making the
Champions League places or not for some teams.

[godlike1]

It seems to be used much better in the champions league and other European leagues.

If something is noticed the ref checks the screen every time so it still becomes his decision.

The prem think they know better than everyone else. Thing is. They don't........

[DonnyNoel]

I think people had a romantic vision of it improving the game by picking up the masssive referee errors like the Henry handball or the occasional shocking tackle that a referee only gives a yellow for. and it stopping all the inustices in the game. The issue is once you start looking for something in minute detail you will find it and that certain laws are still massively open to interpretation.

I've often wondered about the NFL/cricket approach to challenges and if that would work. Might also highlight how many times a manager is right/wrong when it comes to criticising the refs.

On the flip side, what I do like about VAR is the increase in penalties. I've always thought that people apply a different set of laws to challenges in the box than they would on the half way line and refs were always reluctant to give them unless it was really obvious.

[welloffside]

Donny Noel,

I slightly disagree with your take on the penalty issue.  It seems now, to me at. least that players are falling to the ground 'shot' after the slightest brush in the area.  A commentator will justify it by saying "Well, there was contact Brian, he had every right to go down!"

They are looking to the Ref. before they've hit the ground , with a pained face.

One thing I take from your comments is the practice of a defender shepherding a ball over his own goal line with no intention of playing the ball, with his arse in the forwards midriff.    If a player did that in the centre circle he'd last five minutes!!

[POD]

It will be interesting to see VAR in action today at the Olympic Stadium.   We have Martin Atkinson in the VAR box assisted by Sian Massey.... let’s hope for a game without controversy!