The use of the Video Assistant Referee has already come under scrutiny this season – so should VAR be scrapped in the Premier League or given a chance to work?
Paraphrasing a famous 1970s hit from The Temptations, ‘VAR, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing’. Unfortunately, that is becoming the overriding feeling with the added use of technology in the Premier League this season due to the incidents that continue to crop up.
Already, just 12 games into the campaign, criticism has been aimed at the decisions made by the VAR officials and numerous top-flight managers have voiced their displeasure at the whole system in recent weeks.
Deciding whether a player is offside or not has been a particularly contentious area. In Liverpool’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa on November 2, Roberto Firmino’s armpit, you read that right, armpit, was adjudged to have been ahead of play, resulting in his goal being chalked off.
Last weekend, a marginal piece of John Lundstram’s toe was claimed to have been in a marginal offside position, ruling out Sheffield United’s goal in the 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur although that decision is still debated to this day.
Pundits like Gary Lineker, Andy Gray and Jeff Stelling were among those to share their bemusement with the decision which robbed the Blades of a goal, while ex-Liverpool and Real Madrid striker Michael Owen backed the offside call.
That there is the issue with VAR. Unlike goal-line technology, which provides a definitive yes or no answer, a decision made by the Video Assistant Referee is always going to be subjective, which is just wrong completely.
An offside call should be black or white, there should never be any doubt about the matter but, unfortunately, the positioning of the lines when looking at the incident seem to be all over the place at the moment.
Red cards that are either dished out or not after looking at VAR will, once again, be subjective. Take the sending off for Sean Longstaff in Newcastle United’s 1-1 draw against Wolverhampton Wanders. Some viewers have agreed with the red card, while others are claiming it was harsh.
It is the same with penalties. The spot-kick awarded to Brighton’s Aaron Connolly in the 3-2 victory over Everton – after an apparent foul by Michael Keane – left the entire footballing world perplexed, bar the VAR official who overturned the referee’s initial decision not to award a penalty.
Sadio Mane was also awarded a last-minute penalty in Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Leicester on October 5, a decision that seemed very harsh on first glance. But, when VAR looked at the incident, it was not overturned and the spot-kick stood, leaving many people baffled.
There has been some success with VAR this season. Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was flagged offside after netting in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United on September 30 but, after looking at the incident, he was clearly onside and the goal was awarded.
However, there seems to be more problems with the technology at the moment, with another being the time it takes for decisions to be made, which leaves fans in the stadium in limbo.
Liverpool’s James Milner recently said the use of VAR is taking away from the spectacle of football, with supporters unsure whether to celebrate too heavily if they score a goal as it could be ruled out.
Like anything new, teething problems were expected but there is just a sense football is heading in the wrong direction at the moment, with every tackle, penalty shout etc being scrutinised.
At the end of the day, the right decision is always wanted but at what cost?
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