VAR thread

[Exiled_red]

To me that is an easy example of how VAR should work;

Taylor says "he got the ball"
VAR ref should then go "Tayl's, he didn't get the ball".

And that should be it, send the ref to the screen so he can have a look and decide. No more input from VAR, put it back on to the ref.

For me if the referee is saying no penalty because he has played the ball, when the defender hasn't, that IMO is an obvious error and should necessitate the ref to go over to the screen and look at the incident again with this in mind.

The VAR don't want to disagree with the referee's comments, it's like the Doku/MacAllister incident the comment of "they both go in high" needs to be challenged and called out as BS and the ref told to have another look.

[Mr Pink]

These videos they keep releasing have done nothing but confirm that the VAR officials are almost always trying to prove the original decision as correct, regardless of what the video shows.

I reckon that bias is coming from the fact that they’re all buddies - one day you’re the var for your buddy ref, and the next day he’s the var for you… your buddy is saying “that’s not a foul for me”, so your inclination is to agree with him, and not undermine him.

It should be a separate job- you’re either a ref or a var, not doing one or the other, day to day, and ideally they would be a separate team who don’t know each other personally. Can tell from the language they use on the few recordings we’ve heard, that they’re all buddies, it stinks.

[Mark79]

[ame]https://twitter.com/David_Ornstein/status/1790783046213410977[/ame]

[Kenneth]

I’m definitely in the “scrap the lot” camp now. The very presence of VAR creates an expectation of absolute objectively and infallibility. Nothing is perfect, and nothing is infallible so it's doomed to fail to meet expectations in a game where there are so many subjective interpretations. It's a futile attempt to search for truths that don't exist, and that inevitably leads to anger, confusion and disappointment.

[rudedog]

Are other countries looking to scrap also?

[red g]

I’m definitely in the “scrap the lot” camp now. The very presence of VAR creates an expectation of absolute objectively and infallibility. Nothing is perfect, and nothing is infallible so it's doomed to fail to meet expectations in a game where there are so many subjective interpretations. It's a futile attempt to search for truths that don't exist, and that inevitably leads to anger, confusion and disappointment.

Scrap VAR. use automated offside.

Lets just get back to **** referees like the good ol days

[Kenneth]

Are other countries looking to scrap also?

Swedish clubs are still voting against its introduction. Don’t know about anyone else. But this won’t pass anyway, it needs a 2/3 majority of PL clubs, I think it’s just a threat to try and force talks with the governing bodies.

[Exiled_red]

Problem isn't VAR itself it's the **** way it is implemented and the fact that the referees operating it are just there to back their mates up.

What we need is better officials

[spud_gun]

I'd keep it for offsides If the system were fully automated

[Le Chef]

I wouldn't - Newcastle should have had a pen there - Technology is there, just supported by dimwitted PGMOL

[Le Chef]

The human element is flawed, they are re reffereing the game - I'd be inclined to to remove it, yep, you win some , lose some, (bloody same with VAR TBH)

[kingfunk]

As bad as VAR is, if it is scrapped it will give the bent refs in the PL a free license to run riot. VAR is not the problem, it’s the numpties in charge of it.

[peterbread]

Was the officiating this bad before VAR came in? I don’t know if it has made things worse or the refs are just that bad that it doesn’t matter. I don’t remember getting that upset about bad decisions before, it feels harder to take bad decisions now because of the VAR.

The penalty we should have had against city being a prime example. Yes you’d be annoyed if the ref missed it but the fact with VAR they missed it is so much harder to deal with.

[vlahka]

Just program a chatgpt program the rules and let that control var. Will be faster and less stupid.

[Kenneth]

Was the officiating this bad before VAR came in? I don’t know if it has made things worse or the refs are just that bad that it doesn’t matter. I don’t remember getting that upset about bad decisions before, it feels harder to take bad decisions now because of the VAR.

The penalty we should have had against city being a prime example. Yes you’d be annoyed if the ref missed it but the fact with VAR they missed it is so much harder to deal with.

Expectations have been adjusted by the deployment of a system. Where previously decisions were contextualised by an understanding that an official is human with human senses that cannot possibly see everything and comprehend everything perfectly, now we have a system, and an expectation that it will see things as we do. Before we disagreed with a ref, now it’s us against the system. Whether we are being myopic or not.

Offside is a good candidate for var as it’s a matter of fact thing, but even there, VAR feels wrong to me. It’s taken a rule designed to prevent goal hanging and made it a 3D, millimetre precise mathematical conundrum so it can be strictly applied 40 yards from goal. Off, on or just about level was fine for 150 Years, and if there were too many wrong calls due to the pace of the game increasing, sticking a couple of additional linesmen on the touch line would probably have been enough.

Do we even need an offside rule? Could it be amended to improve the game? Those kind of things are ignored and instead the game chooses to define precisely where on the sleeve counts as an active body part, on which frame of video a ball left a players foot, whether two arbitrarily thick virtual lines overlap, whether a player is close enough to the eyeline of a goalkeeper to be interfering with his perception or concentration. The beauty of football has always been that it is a simple and accessible game but it’s disappearing up its own arse to pander to a desire for accuracy with rules and processes that take away a lot of the thrill of the game.