General VAR - time to scrap it?

[ZeroTheHero]

Just watched a Sheff Utd goal being chalked off against Spurs. It took them nearly four minutes to decide that Lundstrams boot was about a millimetre offside. Surely if it's really that close it is almost a matter of opinion as to when the ball was 'struck' (when the boot first hit it, when the ball started moving, when the ball left contact with the boot?). Add that to the looking back about five minutes into the game after every goal to see if (in slow motion) there is any suggestion of a foul by anybody anywhere so they can disallow it and it is coming preciously close to ruining the game.

Thankfully the infection is only present in the Prem and (some matches!) in Europe at the moment. It's more about television and punditry than it is about football, and frankly I hate it.

 

[Foley]

They need to change the interpretation.
VAR does get rid of the vast majority of awful decisions but on tight offside they should give the benefit of the doing to the attacking team.

 

[beyondthefourth]

Listening to the pundits on BT Sports goals roundup, the offsides are getting ridiculous.

"His toe is half an inch beyond the defenders shoulder"

Well then, it sounds as though he's pretty much level, doesn't it?

The system was supposed to eliminate obvious errors, and now everyone is nitpicking twice as much as they were before.

 

[Marked Ox]

In answer to your question in the title, an emphatic yes.

 

[Sarge]

In answer to your question in the title, an emphatic yes.

seconded

 

[beyondthefourth]

seconded

VAR CHECKING DECISION - OVERRULED

 

[RyanioBirdio]

This is what the overwhelming majority of people demanded for years. Referees and linesmen were lambasted and harassed 24/7 for years for missing this, getting that wrong etc, and so this is the alternative. In an imperfect game where as much is about opinion and interpretation as it is fact and evidence, this is what happens when people demand the impossible.

I detest it and would gladly see the back of it in a heartbeat, but I think it’s important that a lot of people accept this was completely made of their own hand.

 

[Sarge]

VAR CHECKING DECISION - OVERRULED

brilliant

 

[bashamwonderland]

That hawk eye thing is good enough for me. Leave VAR for the rugby/cricket or whatever.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

@RyanioBirdio - I agree to a certain extent (about it being a consequence of people wanting perfection), but think it's the TV companies who are actually more culpable. When you are watching a match in person (old fashioned, I know!) it's very difficult to be absolutely sure that the officials got a decision wrong. Although of course in an attempt to put pressure on the ref, we'll all howl for this and that, right or wrong!

But on the telly, every incident gets replayed a thousand times from all angles, in slow motion and ultra slow motion, and the action is paused stock still to 'analyse' off-sides - while ex-players pontificate about how poor the refs are, how all the decisions are dreadful and use the footage to back up their views. Never mind that when they were playing, half of them were diving all over the shop, claiming throw-ins they knew weren't theirs and feigning injury to waste time!

And that is why VAR was introduced - not for the supporters who actually go, but for the TV companies and armchair fans. Personally I have no beef with using technology - the 'is it over the goal line' thing is great: unarguable, unobstrusive and quick - but when we are down to 'was a player 3mm offside 30 seconds before the goal?' or 'the ref made a mistake - now it's up to another ref to decide whether it was a 'clear and obvious' error or not', we have got into the realms of the ridiculous! IMO of course!

 

[SteMerritt]

This is what the overwhelming majority of people demanded for years.

Have they? I don't know any football fans (not armchair fans) that wanted it.

VAR wasn't this much of a f**k up in the World Cup, how have the Premier League managed to get it so wrong?

 

[beyondthefourth]

Have they? I don't know any football fans (not armchair fans) that wanted it.

VAR wasn't this much of a f**k up in the World Cup, how have the Premier League managed to get it so wrong?

Far more games played. A lot of bad decisions have been made as a response to criticised decisions in other matches.

I used to know what the rules of the game were. Now there's a new set of 'directives' every 6 months.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Have they? I don't know any football fans (not armchair fans) that wanted it.

VAR wasn't this much of a f**k up in the World Cup, how have the Premier League managed to get it so wrong?

Every single Premier League football fan at my workplace - many of whom are actually season ticket holders to be fair to them - have been banging on about it for an age. Sky, MOTD, the papers and so on have done nothing for years but dwell on every so-called bad decision from a ref and make it the focus of their coverage. It all came to a head and this is now what they’ve got. To be fair, the guy I sit next to who has a ST at West Ham was the world’s biggest cheerleader for video use for ages, and he finally turned around a few weeks ago and said that he can’t stand it. He also said nearly everyone he sits near who he speaks to at the games wanted it and now regrets it. Ditto the owner of my company who goes to Chelsea. I’ve got no reason to believe that the vast majority of fans, particularly in the top flight, wanted it.

Personally it’s the imperfect nature of the sport that I love. Some you win, some you lose. Goal line technology that can get things accurate inside three seconds is great, but beyond that you’re taking the magic out of the sport. Mistaken identity maybe, or a grave off the ball incident, but beyond that?

 

[SteMerritt]

They should be careful what they wish for. The best thing about VAR is that it doesn't affect us.

 

[beyondthefourth]

They should be careful what they wish for. The best thing about VAR is that it doesn't affect us.

Mind you, it still gets quoted by lower league fans when a decision goes against them.

 

[AbbeyOx]

take it to audience vote each time - dial 0871 premium rate number and adverts in between each decision, then let proper football get on with it whilst the premiersh#t milks even more cash off the armchair supporter

 

[SteMerritt]

take it to audience vote each time - dial 0871 premium rate number and adverts in between each decision, then let proper football get on with it whilst the premiersh#t milks even more cash off the armchair supporter

Would probably be quicker than a few of the decisions recently as well.

 

[Johnf]

It’s a yes from me.
get rid of it !!!

 

[unification]

VAR CHECKING DECISION - OVERRULED

@ZeroTheHero posted at 4.31pm.
Your post came at 4.55pm.

24 minute wait. That’s pretty good for VAR in the Prem ...

 

[nige01ox]

Part of the problem is that the people in charge of using it are the same crap officials it was brought in to help out in the first place. See a problem there?! It should be an independent VAR team who are experts with the technology, not a current ref who that week wasn't given a game to officiate. Additionally, there should be a time window for a VAR decision to be made. Say, 45 seconds? To have a crowd waiting 3 and a half minutes where nobody has any clue what's going on is utterly ridiculous. If you cannot tell in that specified time frame that the on-field decision was wrong and it's taking an age to look at every available image, it naturally follows that it is not a clear and obvious error. Which was their reason for bringing in VAR in the first place.