VAR at the World Cup

Exactly what I was thinking

 

What a joke this ref is (Por - Morocco) so far

 

Why?

Got the penalty call and other fouls right from what I've seen, despite Morocco's moaning.

 

VAR obviously not being used for goalkick/corner decisions that are blatantly wrong then. How anybody couldn't see the deflection off the defender baffles me. Even Phil Neville got it right so it must have been obvious.

Seems strange not to overturn blatant mistakes given that an incorrectly given late corner can change a result dramatically. It would surely take a second for the VAR team to just whisper in the ref's ear "corner matey".

 

You have to draw the line otherwise it's used for everything.

Officials will always make mistakes. It may be annoying that VAR hasn't corrected this or that but the less it's used the better to keep the passion and flow in the game. It's a relief it hasn't been used much because some of those Fa Cup games were a farce and became unwatchable.

It should just be there to make sure there's not a Maradona hand of god type scandal first and foremost, or an off-the-ball incident that the ref has missed, or a goal that's several yards on or offside that the lino has got wrong. Generally light touch and minimal interference. Stuff that happens from time to time but is reasonably rare. Leave the ref to referee.

 

In ten years it will be good. Things take time to evolve. This part of football history is necessary so that in the future we have the good version of VAR.

 

That's been the good thing about it because in the FA Cup there was games with multiple goals ruled out but for really tight offsides mostly. I don't think there's really been a goal stood that should have been ruled out. Maybe a debatable foul or two but nothing major.

Partly because most of the goals are corners, penalties (checked with VAR to award) and free kicks because nobody can actually score from open play.

In England games are very fast, players are faster on average and teams often defend higher and break quicker so a higher percentage of goals scored have tight offside calls.

 

If you can get things right, why not get them right? It literally takes less time that it does between the ball going out and the goal kick being taken. In 99% of games you wouldn't eve know it was being used. I'm not talking about examining pixels to see who the ball came off last after a tackle, I'm talking about "clear and obvious mistakes" like the one that occurred in this Uruguay game.

You've said yourself that a lot of goals are scored from corners. That's more reason to get as many right as possible. There is absolutely no downside to it so there is no logical reason for it not to be used.

 

Am I the only person in the entire world who saw that the foul on Salah in the Russia v Egypt game was outside the box and that Salah then fell dramatically into the box after the Russian defender had let go of him?

The ref, who was perfectly positioned, made the correct call of a free kick just outside the penalty area but was overturned by the VAR. He really should have had credit for a fantastic decision.

The incident wasn't properly analysed by any commentator and everyone seems to have accepted that the foul continued into the box. I know it looked a clear penalty but if you look carefully it wasn't!

Bit of a scandal in my opinion that VAR overturned an absolutely correct decision without the referee's involvement and yet no-one in the world is mentioning it.

 

Yes absolutely but I'm saying that the foul didn't continue into the area

Yes, absolutely, but what I'm saying is that the Russian defender, Zobnin, took his hands off of Salah before Salah entered the area and the foul did not continue in the box. I'm saying VAR got it wrong, it wasn't properly analysed. Nor did any TV commentators analyse it properly. I just can't understand it. But I'd be interested to know if anyone agrees with me after reviewing the incident. I can't possibly be the only one to see it.

Yes I agree with this. In my opinion Griezmann had lost control of the ball before his legs were taken away. I saw a similar tackle (outside the box) by a Croatian defender this evening and Croatia won a corner because the defender hit the ball against the Argentinian attacker (before taking his legs away with his follow through).

But the difference with the Australia call was that the referee changed his own decision after reviewing the replays. I think he got it wrong and should have stuck with his first decision but in the Russia/Egypt game the decision was taken away from the ref on the basis, presumably, that it should have been a straightforward matter of fact.

 

that Iran v Portugal game last night was everything I feared VAR could be

**** me, imagine standing around for 5 mins while some plum of a ref looks at replays of a very debatable incident while the players call for it after every foul

 

Exactly why i'm against it.

It should only be used occasionally to correct a howler or something clear and obvious that the ref has missed. When 50/50/dubious calls or marginal offsides are getting overturned it spoils the game and spoils the sport. Why say only clear and obvious if it's not going to be the case?

Refs make several dubious decisions (that could go either way) they don't make many howlers. VAR seems to be about the dubious decisions now as well. The thing with a dubious decision is it's still dubious when it's overturned after VAR. Clear and obvious means open and shut and no room for debate and typically after one replay.

 

VAR isn't the problem, refs not applying laws of the game is the problem. In time VAR could get us back to a time when football is once a again a contact sport, where defenders don't have to defend like they are doing an impression of Liam Gallagher. A cricket umpire refers to VAR, he doesn't have to go and decide it is done for him and he gets the decision on screen and upholds it. Too many refs, too precious to trust someone else with the decision and as we are seeing, too many officials who don't know the laws of the game correctly. Refs need to park their ego for the good of the game.

 

Refs shouldn't have anything to do with VAR at all, they should just ref as normal.

He should just be told in his earpiece when something has gone to review and then the decision gets overturned for him if he's made a big error or missed something off the ball. That in reality should be once in a while not every game.

 

What happens if a decision isn't given, the other team go up the other end and score, then the decision is reviewed and found to be a foul/handball?

Absolute carnage I imagine, especially if it was late in a crucial game.

 

After last night's farcical use of VAR in the Portugal and Spain games (where they were the story and the football was incidental) I reckon orders have been issued to use it sparingly judging by today's games.