Yeah I noticed that the other day. All sitting around their screens like some kind of Star Trek rejects
It hasn't really been needed all tournament - it should just be there in case. Even Iran's goal that got ruled out the linesman made the right call anyway. The vast majority of VAR referrals have been dubious penalty decisions. Ironically some of the more obvious ones (Tunisia-England) weren't referred. There seems less consistency in decisions with VAR than there was without it given tonight and last night.
And there is always one standing up it seems... You do wonder if they always get on and agree which going by some decisions they probably don't!
Iran's penalty was farcical. Even more so that it got awarded after VAR review. How can you give that?
Alan Shearer seems to have changed his tune somewhat following the excellent job VAR and the referee did in the Germany Korea game.
It's something people will be fickle about. When it leads to a favourable outcome (the Germans have been knocked out) then it's great. England get knocked out to a dubious penalty review or by fractions with an offside decisions overturned and it'll be the worst thing ever. The South Korea goal is exactly the kind of situation VAR is needed for (an error the ref has missed) and to be fair to Shearer he's said before that the clear and obvious error is what it's for and that was one. You don't actually get many of them. Most VAR referrals are for dubious penalty decisions or checking perfectly good goals. They reviewed Korea's second goal when the lad was miles inside his own half when the ball was played!
I got the impression some pundits disagreed with a decision VAR had made rather than the system itself . They'd probably all soon ask for it in the Premier league if our refs continue to make basic errors which are factual rather than just at the whim of a human viewpoint like handball . It's been used well at times but also inconsistent it it's usage.
Belgium v England must be the first game not to have any VAR involvement? Perhaps the officials took the night off as well as the players?
What qualification do you need to be part of the VAR team? All they do is watch the game live on tele like the rest of us?
I honestly wanted to hate it and it to fail .still needs work but in the long run i do think will be better for the game
The system itself has done well. The refs could have made better decisions occasionally (Portugal) but overall it's improved the fairness of the game. Probably need to make it so players can't swarm around asking for VAR.
I was looking back at some of England’s games from past tournaments earlier, and what struck me was how precarious it felt not having VAR. We’ve only had it for a short time, but it feels like a complete necessity at the top level; some of the decisions are just too important to be left to guesswork. I strongly thought VAR would ruin the World Cup leading up to the tournament, but it has actually improved it considerably imo.
Yet the Premier league and Champions league have rejected it which is well in their rights of course if they don't feel comfortable with it. Mind you as I said before bet we have a manager moaning about a lack of VAR when there is a massive cock-up in a big game.
