I'll keep saying this, but if you take a step back it is clear that football is in no better position than it was before technology, with the possible exception of 'Goal line' checks. Therefore why not just revert to having broadly the same amount of marginal refereeing errors in a game, but made by a human and in a game which has a much more natural flow and dynamic sense of appeal. Were we any more unhappy with officiating before technology? No. Did the game work fundamentally fine before technology? Yes. Was the game sufficiently exciting and entertaininy before technology? Yes. The solution is blindingly simple.
All fans of all sports want consistency when it comes to the rules. Why can the 5cm rule be used against us in a match to allow a clear offside goal ( that was far more than 5cms because the line went through half his foot). Yet the week before we have a goal disallowed because the line went through his big toe ( that’s less than 5cms). It’s like Eurovision, it has nothing to do with skill and there’s something political about it. The FA never likes Fayed and we’re still suffering.
VAR was resisted for years because the authorities wanted the game to be the same from Sunday League to Premier League. VAR was eventually introduced to stop errors like Lampard’s ghost goal against Germany in the 2010 World Cup. VAR was meant to overturn honest errors on the pitch that TV immediately showed to be match changing howlers. It was never meant to be used as it is being used now. The only solution is to give each manager one challenge per half with successful challenges being returned to that team. That way you have opportunity to fix a howler but the imperfect game we love is played out on the pitch as it should be played, close calls and even refereeing mistakes included.
I think a strict time limit is needed. If VAR cannot determine an error was made within 30 seconds (or maybe less) then there was no clear and obvious error and the on field decision stands. If the VAR need to spend several minutes drawing and redrawing lines to determine if the attackers elbow was 1 cm advanced of the defenders heel then we’ve completely lost the plot.
I totally agree about VAR losing the plot over centimetres but an arbitrary time limit doesn’t solve that - even if it might speed things up a little. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think everyone wants the game reffed on the pitch but the howlers taken out of the game. Time limited checks won’t fix that, a challenge per half for each manager just might.
I feel a clear and obvious error can be spotted with one quick look at a replay. Anything requiring more scrutiny than that, VAR just says inconclusive and lets the on field decision stand. Wouldn’t that keep the game on the pitch but allow for fixing the howlers that can easily be spotted on TV? I just think a challenge system ends up with the same problem of arbitrary decisions by VAR but now after a manager initiated lengthy review. Plus you also have to allow a certain amount of time after each penalty, offsides, etc for the manager to decide if they want to challenge the referee’s decision.
It would put too much arbitrary pressure on the VAR officials, you would just end up with fans moaning that they took too long to spot an 'obvious' mistake, or to draw lijes or whatever. I think an appeal system mightbwork better, as it does in other sports, but again fans would end up moaning that there are too many / too fee appeals, the manager was wrong to challenge / not challenge etc. The simplest thing is to just do away with it except for goal line checks. Any other howlers should be dealt with properly amd retrospectively by the referreeing body or FA or whoever (i.e. actually make refs accountable for massive errors loke in any other job).
I think var should only judge offside side if a player has any part of his leg or head in an offside position not the arm or hand , but I would be happy to do away with var altogether it’s ruining the game and fans and players can’t celebrate a goal as it takes so long for var to make a decision.
This may be way off...but is there anything in that we play in white shirts that means VAR is influenced? If the tech seemed to spot our players last 0.5cm of "upper arm" vs Man U as it was the lighter colour - then that might explain the large numbers of VAR going against. Even on replay, I'd have been hard pushed to find any part of our player "offside" And it is getting mad when VAR takes so long and still looks indecisive.
I'll keep saying this, but if you take a step back it is clear that football is in no better position than it was before technology, with the possible exception of 'Goal line' checks. Therefore why not just revert to having broadly the same amount of marginal refereeing errors in a game, but made by a human and in a game which has a much more natural flow and dynamic sense of appeal. Were we any more unhappy with officiating before technology? No. Did the game work fundamentally fine before technology? Yes. Was the game sufficiently exciting and entertaininy before technology? Yes. The solution is blindingly simple.
All fans of all sports want consistency when it comes to the rules. Why can the 5cm rule be used against us in a match to allow a clear offside goal ( that was far more than 5cms because the line went through half his foot). Yet the week before we have a goal disallowed because the line went through his big toe ( that’s less than 5cms). It’s like Eurovision, it has nothing to do with skill and there’s something political about it. The FA never likes Fayed and we’re still suffering.
VAR was resisted for years because the authorities wanted the game to be the same from Sunday League to Premier League. VAR was eventually introduced to stop errors like Lampard’s ghost goal against Germany in the 2010 World Cup. VAR was meant to overturn honest errors on the pitch that TV immediately showed to be match changing howlers. It was never meant to be used as it is being used now. The only solution is to give each manager one challenge per half with successful challenges being returned to that team. That way you have opportunity to fix a howler but the imperfect game we love is played out on the pitch as it should be played, close calls and even refereeing mistakes included.
I think a strict time limit is needed. If VAR cannot determine an error was made within 30 seconds (or maybe less) then there was no clear and obvious error and the on field decision stands. If the VAR need to spend several minutes drawing and redrawing lines to determine if the attackers elbow was 1 cm advanced of the defenders heel then we’ve completely lost the plot.
I totally agree about VAR losing the plot over centimetres but an arbitrary time limit doesn’t solve that - even if it might speed things up a little. Correct me if I’m wrong but I think everyone wants the game reffed on the pitch but the howlers taken out of the game. Time limited checks won’t fix that, a challenge per half for each manager just might.
I feel a clear and obvious error can be spotted with one quick look at a replay. Anything requiring more scrutiny than that, VAR just says inconclusive and lets the on field decision stand. Wouldn’t that keep the game on the pitch but allow for fixing the howlers that can easily be spotted on TV? I just think a challenge system ends up with the same problem of arbitrary decisions by VAR but now after a manager initiated lengthy review. Plus you also have to allow a certain amount of time after each penalty, offsides, etc for the manager to decide if they want to challenge the referee’s decision.
It would put too much arbitrary pressure on the VAR officials, you would just end up with fans moaning that they took too long to spot an 'obvious' mistake, or to draw lijes or whatever. I think an appeal system mightbwork better, as it does in other sports, but again fans would end up moaning that there are too many / too fee appeals, the manager was wrong to challenge / not challenge etc. The simplest thing is to just do away with it except for goal line checks. Any other howlers should be dealt with properly amd retrospectively by the referreeing body or FA or whoever (i.e. actually make refs accountable for massive errors loke in any other job).
I think var should only judge offside side if a player has any part of his leg or head in an offside position not the arm or hand , but I would be happy to do away with var altogether it’s ruining the game and fans and players can’t celebrate a goal as it takes so long for var to make a decision.
This may be way off...but is there anything in that we play in white shirts that means VAR is influenced? If the tech seemed to spot our players last 0.5cm of "upper arm" vs Man U as it was the lighter colour - then that might explain the large numbers of VAR going against. Even on replay, I'd have been hard pushed to find any part of our player "offside" And it is getting mad when VAR takes so long and still looks indecisive.
Interesting thought. Perhaps grey or green kits are the way forward!