The first two seasons were a disaster by and large, but last season we seemed to see some semblance of balance brought to the game. This season it feels like we have taken a retrograde step.
Last weekend saw some incredible decisions that have brought VAR under the spotlight again. The Liverpool - Everton game was a case in point. Virgil van Dijk's foul on Onana was only given a yellow card when it clearly should have been a red. The tackle was high, late and straight legged, a red all day long. The ref gave a yellow, but VAR did not request a second look. Why not? Is that not what it is for?
The second incident was the disallowed Conor Coady goal. After he scored the linesman did not raise his flag so the crowd went wild, thinking it was a goal. VAR took an age to make its call and, in the end, called offside, no goal. Judging by the lines applied by VAR it looked like the correct call. Later these lines were called into question by different supporters on Twitter. Whatever the truth, it has taken away the joy of the goal in general when watching live footy. Every time your team scores a goal, you know that the build-up will be forensically examined for a foul, so you hesitate from celebrating.
The bigger problem with this is that some fouls in the build-up are ignored and some aren't. Earlier this season Spurs scored against Chelsea at the death to secure a 2-2 draw. The goal came after a series of two corners. In the first corner Romero dragged Cucharella to the ground by the hair. The ref missed it and awarded another corner from which Kane scored. Romero's foul was clear and obvious, but the ref missed it and VAR cannot intervene, presumably because the corners were different phases. While Chelsea lost two points from that decision, they gained two last weekend, after Cornet's equaliser for West Ham was chalked off due to VAR. Mendy, the Chelsea goalie, made a save and pushed the ball out to Cornet, Bowen touched Mendy as he fell and Mendy played dead, Cornet scored past the prostrate Mendy. VAR then called the ref to the screen and, after reviewing it, annulled the goal. The touch from Bowen was not a foul and Mendy exaggerated the effect, but amazingly VAR wanted the ref to review it. The ref's decision was correct and any possible mistake was not "clear and obvious", but the ref did not stand over his initial decision. 2 points to Chelsea that they didn't deserve.
Even more bizarre was the decision last weekend in the Toon-Palace game when Palace defender Mitchell scored an o.g. The Toon Army went wild only for VAR to chalk off the goal for a Willock foul on the Palace goalie. When watching the VAR review, you can clearly see that it was Mitchell who pushed Willock into his own keeper! Everyone could see it except for the VAR ref. That also cost the Toon 2 valuable points.
So, where do we go from here? The joy of the goal has been diminished and I don't see a possible way back, unless VAR gets ditched. Why some fouls are reviewed retrospectively and some aren't is a flaw that must be fixed, but how? Would football be better off ditching VAR? It was brought in because of the many injustices which befall mostly smaller teams, and which can be devastating emotionally and financially. It works to a satisfactory standard in rugby, surely football can do the same? The pundits on Sky Sports argued that VAR is fine, it's just the protocols and the refs doing the reviews that are the problem. They called for more honesty and accountability. Whatever the answer, it needs sorted pronto.
The second incident was the disallowed Conor Coady goal. After he scored the linesman did not raise his flag so the crowd went wild, thinking it was a goal. VAR took an age to make its call and, in the end, called offside, no goal. Judging by the lines applied by VAR it looked like the correct call. Later these lines were called into question by different supporters on Twitter. Whatever the truth, it has taken away the joy of the goal in general when watching live footy. Every time your team scores a goal, you know that the build-up will be forensically examined for a foul, so you hesitate from celebrating.
The bigger problem with this is that some fouls in the build-up are ignored and some aren't. Earlier this season Spurs scored against Chelsea at the death to secure a 2-2 draw. The goal came after a series of two corners. In the first corner Romero dragged Cucharella to the ground by the hair. The ref missed it and awarded another corner from which Kane scored. Romero's foul was clear and obvious, but the ref missed it and VAR cannot intervene, presumably because the corners were different phases. While Chelsea lost two points from that decision, they gained two last weekend, after Cornet's equaliser for West Ham was chalked off due to VAR. Mendy, the Chelsea goalie, made a save and pushed the ball out to Cornet, Bowen touched Mendy as he fell and Mendy played dead, Cornet scored past the prostrate Mendy. VAR then called the ref to the screen and, after reviewing it, annulled the goal. The touch from Bowen was not a foul and Mendy exaggerated the effect, but amazingly VAR wanted the ref to review it. The ref's decision was correct and any possible mistake was not "clear and obvious", but the ref did not stand over his initial decision. 2 points to Chelsea that they didn't deserve.
Even more bizarre was the decision last weekend in the Toon-Palace game when Palace defender Mitchell scored an o.g. The Toon Army went wild only for VAR to chalk off the goal for a Willock foul on the Palace goalie. When watching the VAR review, you can clearly see that it was Mitchell who pushed Willock into his own keeper! Everyone could see it except for the VAR ref. That also cost the Toon 2 valuable points.
So, where do we go from here? The joy of the goal has been diminished and I don't see a possible way back, unless VAR gets ditched. Why some fouls are reviewed retrospectively and some aren't is a flaw that must be fixed, but how? Would football be better off ditching VAR? It was brought in because of the many injustices which befall mostly smaller teams, and which can be devastating emotionally and financially. It works to a satisfactory standard in rugby, surely football can do the same? The pundits on Sky Sports argued that VAR is fine, it's just the protocols and the refs doing the reviews that are the problem. They called for more honesty and accountability. Whatever the answer, it needs sorted pronto.
 |
| Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports. |
VAR should be binned as a real time tool and used only for retrospective cards. The goal line tech should be enough.
ReplyDeleteI think the offside decisions are weird. I think there should be space between a player and the opponent if he is to be offside. Any bodily overlap should be onside.
DeleteI know big Caoimhin hates it but I think if properly used it has a role in improving the fairness of the game. The game has moved on as the thugs have been moved off.