Surely they are just delaying the inevitable? https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/04/1...-var-use-201819-season-favour-further-testing The Premier League have confirmed that Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will not be used next season as clubs have voted for further testing. The new technology, which is already being used in English cup matches, has been an obvious positive. Yet there are still many concerns, given the controversial nature of some of the decisions stemming from the novel inclusion. The league reported as much on their official website on Friday. "Premier League Clubs have today agreed to continue advanced testing of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) throughout the 2018/19 season," a statement read. "The decision came after comprehensive discussions regarding the progress made in VAR trials in English football, and key learnings from the many competitions elsewhere using it." Top flight clubs have all agreed to have VAR undergo advanced testing until the end of the 2018/19 season in order to facilitate improvements, with communication inside the stadium and for fans following at home a major sticking point. The Premier League will also request that the technology be used 'more extensively' in domestic cup competitions next season.
Correct decision at this stage. The most important thing which is not clear to me is when VAR gets invoked and by whom and in what situations. Make that clear and objective and it will work. My preference is to take that decision as to when it is to be used away from the officials. Give each team 3 appeals per game in set situations eg penalties, goals, sending offs and if appeal successful then not lost and if unsuccessful then lost. If used tactically then punished by points deduction. Game stopped by appeal to 4th official and when ball next goes out of play. Not perfect but then the current position isn’t.
Var should involve the crowd. Work that out and you might extend the life of football before Arabs kill it stone ****ing dead.
Oddly enough it's good enough for the World Cup... Perhaps the incapability of the PL and Match Officials to use the system correctly, is one of the reasons there won't be any said officials at the WC.
To be fair, even when the correct decision has been given, it involves an absolute debacle. The ref running to the side to watch a replay is just cringeworthy, and the whole process is just not worth the hassle. To be effective, it must be faster, not involve the referee at all, and be a decisive decision. The spirit of application has mostly been correct, ie if the ref gives a pen, and it's a soft one but there is some contact, then leave it. It should only change a clear mistake.
Agreed, but I don't think we should reverse those types of decisions. Likewise, if the ref sees it the other way, ie not enough of a foul, then they should not be reversed (e.g. The England vs Italy pen). It should only be used if there is an Alonso type foul (yesterday) which goes unpunished, a Clear offside, or handball etc.
I agree. It should be used to correct clear mistakes, but where there is an element of doubt they should do as they do in cricket with the 'umpires decision' option. Use it to help referees rather than undermining them.
I think that it's important to keep the subjective nature of interpretation, because some of that stuff is why we discuss games days and weeks and months later. Using the recent case, where lots of people think the Real pen was soft, not a pen whatever, but an almost equal amount think it is a pen, then VAR brings no purpose other than to make the talking point VAR. if VAR had overturned Michael Oliver's decision to award Real a pen, then it brings no conclusion to the matter in terms of debate, and that must not be the case. Practically, VAR has to be a 4th official, and the 4th official should be in a studio, with a mic to the ref's ear. They can watch the replays we all see at home anyway, and can make a decision in seconds to halt play, or call it back. I think a challenge system wouldn't bring about a fairer game, because using the Alonso example, would Long REALLY have called for a challenge? I think not, and that means no red, so no benefit or difference to what actually happened. I just believe that it's been way too overthought, over complicated, there's been an insistence on the use of technology, and ultimately it's a shower of ****e.
Quite like the German system. Have a load of blokes watching all the games in a shed somewhere. Anything contentious associated with goals/penalties etc they flag to referee who then goes to side to watch on a monitor or accepts their decision. Seems to have minimal impact on flow.
