Can we just accept that the problem lies with the officials not the VAR itself?
So let’s be honest all of us and not hide behind our finger looking at the tree but missing the whole forest! If VAR goes, we will miss it. True, there’s been mistakes and bad calls, but it’s only fair to say it has helped in making more good decisions than the mistakes it has made. Like it or not VAR is here to stay so let’s get on with it all of us!
By CHRISTOS SOTIRAKOPOULOS
After Jamie Carragher’s rant on MNF at Skysports about VAR and how managers need to get on with decisions he changed his tune three days later and tweeted: I wanted #VAR as I wanted the game to progress & get more of the big decisions right.
But it hasn’t worked & nobody likes it, VAR is ruining too many games. It’s influence needs limiting to goaline technology & automated offsides.
So do we need to remind him and everyone complaining that
VAR doesn’t make the rules.
VAR doesn’t pick and choose what it wants to review.
VAR doesn’t decide the implementations of the rules.
Most important thing to remember is that VAR doesn’t make any decisions.
It’s not VAR you want to get rid of, it’s the incompetent referees that PGMOL decides that they can officiate or use it. And most of them are incapable of operating VAR in the right way.
It works perfectly well in FIFA competitions and many other countries. The Italians or the Spanish work it well, the Germans not so well but it is a part of the game! The problem is not VAR, it’s the people implementing it in England. Do you bin CCTV because the police can’t arrest a thief? Or you try to check it more thoroughly and help you better?
I do agree that the only part that has been successful mostly so far are offsides.
The rest doesn't work because it's all still subjective. Nobody can agree on what is clear and obvious. That is a part we need to clarify. The more rules we leave on subjective opinion the more moaning we will face. It’s an unwritten rule.
Referees it seems in England that are relying on the VAR rather than making their own decisions and managers are using VAR as an excuse. Not that it doesn’t happen in other countries, but in England, it starts balancing on a tight rope.
The problem with VAR is that it cannot solve lots of discretionary calls. Moreover it magnifies the decision (or lack of one) as some refs do watch it 1000 times. So we return to our basic point. We need better referees with a strong will to make decisions.
The problem is the officials, not the VAR itself. The quicker we accept it the better.
