12 Mar 2024 07:39:06
{Ed's Note - Seano_ has posted a new article entitled, Liverpool vs Manchester City: Review

1.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 11:18:10
As a United fan I do get a good laugh when poor decisions go against Liverpool, but to be honest I'm utterly shocked that Doku didn't get sent off for his chest high, studs up challenge.

It is a high foot, and it was dangerous. Absolutely no excuse for Michael Oliver not to make that call and even worse that VAR stood by and did nothing.

That one decision could effect where the league title ends up this season. The whole point of VAR was to remove clear and obvious errors.

I don't necessarily want VAR removed from the game, I think it could be used very effectively, if used in the right way for football.

The problem seems to be that it's run exclusively by referees who don't want to publicly state a colleague has made a mistake by over ruling an on pitch decision.

Even when they do question the decision they get the ob pitch referee to review it on a pitch side monitor and decide whether to change their decision. Which seems like massive overkill given it's a qualified referee working the VAR, someone who knows the rules of the game and takes charge of matches themselves.

They know if the decision was wrong or not, why waste time showing the on pitch Ref where he went wrong. Change the decision and keep the game going.

As a added bonus it'd make games harder to fix as you'd have two officials (when an error has occurred) making decisions rather than one.

2.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 12:20:34
Shappy

Agreed, I thought it was a stonewall penalty for Liverpool. Don’t understand how it was dismissed and quickly.

3.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 12:53:54
Agreed Shappy, on both points.

4.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 13:32:39
The ref on the pitch must make the final decision.
If you take the authority away from the man in the middle then there is no point in having them, the more they are undermined the less respect they will get imo.

5.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 14:20:52
VAR has become a joke, it was a clear and obvious error but referees are loathe to highlight their colleagues' errors.

6.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 14:28:12
My bugbear is players still surrounding the ref after literally every big decision. It's literally the only sport where every decision is questioned. Thought they were doing something about it.

7.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 14:35:32
It's like they are afraid to admit they are unsure. With the sites of the game now it's very reasonable for refs to be unsure and take advice from var.
Again the laws are subjective in too many cases so that will lead to inconsistent judgements.
Should be like rugby where the ref reviews with the var official and we should be able to hear their rationale.

8.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 14:56:13
I was sat with my Liverpool supporting brother in law during the game. He had a meltdown after that decision, I wasn't so bothered. Hoping for Arsenal to win it this year.

9.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 15:00:22
It perfectly sums how farcical VAR actually is. It is being implemented by clowns.

10.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 15:50:17
The scousers weren’t too bothered when they never returned the ball to Forest last week and scored.

11.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 16:35:03
Ken, I don't think it does take away from the on pitch Ref's authority. It's already a team of officials running a game, the Ref, the linesmen, the , and since the introduction of VAR they are a part of the decision making team.

The whole point of VAR is to correct mistakes made by Ref's through the use of video replay and multiply camera angles. Being able to see the things that the Ref cannot see.

I see no reason why a fully qualified referee who has the advantage of seeing the incident from multiple angles, several times and potentially slowed down cannot make the call.

Slowing down the game more than it needs to just takes away from the spectacle of the game and makes matches less enjoyable.

The game has got too big for clear an obvious errors to be allowed to persist. Wrong decisions effect both ends of the table and can potentially cost teams hundreds of millions as well as potential glory.

We can't allow a situation where billions of people around the world know there has been a potentially result altering mistake made but the guy in the middle making the decisions is completely oblivious. That's madness.

However, football is a very different sport to Rugby, Cricket or Tennis where this technology has been used successfully before. Those are slower paced, more stop start games. They also have much clearer rules less open to interpretation.

As such the use of VAR in football needs to be used differently.

Where possible any and all ambiguity should be removed from the rules. That's just good for the sport in general. You can't have similar incidents being adjudicated differently on the same weekend. Imagine if on the final day of the season the title as well as who gets relegated are still undecided. Then two similar incidents happen at opposite ends of the table, on decision is given and the other isn't. Both handing the title to one team while condemning another to relegation.

The rules need to be clear and not open for interpretation.

I think VAR decisions should be being reviewed live while the game continues where possible. If the VAR official believes the wrong decision has been made they overrule it and play is brought back.

They should be restricted to 30 seconds, if it takes longer then it is neither a clear or obvious error.

There is automated offside technology, this should be used instead of VAR as video analysis of offsides takes too long with VAR (unless it's clear and obvious) .

The officials microphone conversations should be live broadcast, as well as what the VAR official is reviewing both to a TV audience and in the stadium.

There is the suggestions that some officials are not making decision through fear of getting it wrong and absolving their responsibility to VAR. This actually wouldn't be a problem if VAR had the ability to overrule on pitch decisions and a proclivity to actually call out a colleagues mistake.

As for a referees authority, I think this is another completely separate issue which needs stronger leadership within the FA to resolve.

Waving imaginary cards was and to my knowledge is still a bookable offence. But would the FA back Ref's if they did book every player who does it. Likewise surrounding and harassing the Ref, but again there doesn't seem to be the stomach from the FA to back a hard crackdown on it.

Bring in similar rules to Rugby in regard to how players are allowed to speak to or not speak to a Ref and crackdown hard on the rules. If it means a few games being abandoned one weekend due to too many players being sent off then so be it. I'd bet you any amount of money the behaviour would be drastically different the following weekend.

12.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 17:27:13
You do know they are not rules but laws of the game.
Rugby supporters and tennis supporters are respectful both during and after a game towards the officials Football fans are not.
You only have to read on here every week or look on sky. More time spent talking about officials and decisions than there is talking about the game itself.
People need to accept decisions and stop moaning every 5 mins. It's never been perfect the laws are open to interpretation therefore there is too few hard and fast decisions that are not up for debate.
Imo if the ref makes a call and is impotence it should not be debated afterwards.
Coaches are worse than the players a lot of the time. Pathetic when the game is over its over don't hide behind a refs decision and deflect.

13.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 19:04:17
I think you can argue it’s a penalty as his foot is high but it’s never a red card in a million years, it’s a high foot with zero malice involved, I’ve certainly seen them given but I can see why the video ref didn’t overturn it at such a pivotal point in a huge game. Refs are human and it would take a hell of a decision to give that last minute penalty.

14.) 12 Mar 2024
12 Mar 2024 19:09:35
The article says Ederson was lucky not to get a red card, when was that? I assume it wasn’t from Nunez diving over his legs after kicking the ball out of play? Can’t remember another incident.