What to do with VAR?

Bin it.

 

Clearly not fit for purpose yet in some very weird interpretations..
Offside is crazy

 

I think the offside bit is the most ludicrous.

You know those geo-positioning sports-bra vests they wear in training? I don’t see why they can’t have a small unit in the middle and immediately tell if someone is offside from that. Arses to whether their left eyebrow is ahead, their tattoo is offside, etc, just keep it simple, is their gps ahead when the ball is kicked? It would be quicker and would be more akin to the goal-line technology, which now goes unquestioned.

VAR has been good in many situations, dealing with, for example, rotten calls Anthony Taylor made in TOTCHE recently. I mean they were stinkers!! And they were sorted. It needs to be quicker and able to intervene if necessary.

There is a Ludditeness (?!) to many fans’ singing “**** VAR!” Technology isn’t necessarily bad.

 

Interesting.. Just heard Jurgen Klopp say that a possible answer is to make the measurement line thicker.. Which may solve the issue about, 'armpits' etc in offside decisions..

 

As far as offside goes it should only be used where there is a player clearly offside and missed by the officials
If an attacker is essentially level he is not offside
The tiny fractions of offside being called this season are a joke
Whats hacks me off is where clear and obvious handballs are not spotted by VAR, they have cost us 3 goals and 6 points
But all our goals have been 100% legal

 

VAR is here to stay so they need to adapt rules to help make it work

The problem with offsides is not VAR but the laws. It generally isn't subjective, offside is offside, whether it is 2 feet or 2mm. Of course most seem unfair but this is where VAR can be consistent, just like goal-line technology. It should be a simple yes or no. Unfortunately it seems to take forever for them to come to the final answer so this is probably where the laws need to change, not VAR. Change it to something like there has to be daylight between the attacker and defender, so any part of the defender in line with the attacker and he is on-side. You'd hope this would take seconds to see on a replay!

My biggest issue with VAR, and was before all this got put in, is many decisions are subjective - such as Kaba's red card. The Ref on the pitch had a great view and deemed it a yellow while someone else a red. The on-field ref may still think it is a yellow even after watching it half a dozen times on a video but has taken someone else's opinion. This is why they need to go to a pitch-side camera and the on-field ref make the final decision

You could also suggest it's unfair where they can upgrade a yellow to a red, but (for example) Mariappa's 2nd yellow causing a red card, can't be reviewed! Surely if a 2nd yellow is a 'clear and obvious' error, that could be reviewed too! Although if the 2nd yellow is fair but the first wasn't, doesn't really help

 

Excellent points.
As things stand, with offside, that’s somewhere where I think they should rely on lino’s calls unless there is clear and obvious error. All the armpit/eyebrow stuff takes too long and, most importantly, does not improve the game.

 

Or maybe they should just get rid of offside completely - go back to the school playground days where you have the goal hangers, chatting away with the keeper

 

Sometimes neither would realise they’d been an attack and were still chattering away together.

 

As far as I am concerned VAR is out. We have lived with the possibility of human error all of our lives and it hasn't diminished the attractiveness of the game for us. The other point is that you will never have a system where VAR is available at every ground and so the same goal may be allowed/disallowed at Rochdale but not at Old Trafford.

 

Definately, make a team defend properly rather than force a player into an offside position. Probably result in more goals which cant be bad.

 

Today for the first time in England a ref went and had a look at a pitch side monitor, and changed his original yellow card to a red one. It took next to no time, and everyone could see what was going on.

 

Yes although it was a shame to see the Palace players still trying to dispute the decision.

At some point they've got to accept the ref's call.

I wonder if it will be a one off as it came in a cup game ?!

 

Yes, but Huddlestone kicked out, too, and definitely worth a red, I thought.

 

Yes, well done Michael Oliver. I think he was right to do so and in his analysis.

 

Didn’t you think Huddlestone’s retaliation worthy of a red, too?

 

I haven't seen it yet.... will take a peek a give an opinion.

 

I think the Palace guy kicked out again after they first clashed which cost him.

 

Fez, are you aware of this “excessive force” thing? I remember the rule (as opposed to Law ) just as ‘retaliation is a straight red’. And using something like boot, corner flag, ball to hit an opponent was straight also. But I’m assuming the lack of “excessive force” was what stopped Grealish being sent off for kicking the ball at Sarr. At the time, I shouted for red, then read up and assumed he was safe because there was not excessive force used. Was that always the Law or has it changed? And if that is why Grealish was yellow, shouldn’t the same standard have applied to the tiny little kick that Pereyra gave?

 

Excessive force applies to a challenge with the ball in play, generally regarded these days as endangering an opponent - they're not quite the same but you get the idea... Andy Carroll forearm smash "going for a header" is endangering rather than excessive force like, say, a Vinnie Jones special!
I can't really comment on the inconsistency of the application but we all have different tolerance levels. What does annoy me is a different tolerance level between teams in the same match... we suffer dreadfully from this.
No complaint from me about Pereyra's red. Ball long gone from playing distance so the referee (who generally speaking had an absolute stinker imho) called it right as Violent Conduct - kicking an opponent.
I once had an incident where a player fouled the gk in a reckless fashion (careless has no sanction, maybe a talking to; reckless is a YC; excessive force is a RC) and the gk threw the ball in the opponents face... YC for the challenge, RC for the keeper... simples. Grealish should've gone.
Huddleston decision was just about right. Just.