What is it good for? We’re still not sure yet… VERDICT
THE VAR revolution is underway and will take one hell of a lot of getting used to.
There were 38 checks across six games on Saturday.
The only two overturned decisions came in Manchester City’s win at West Ham and both left the fans scratching their heads.
Those decisions also highlighted the two biggest problems: communication and taking the emotion out of the game.
It is all right for journalists like me because we have had the briefing, we knew that encroachment on penalties was one of the big things that was going to come under the VAR microscope.
So when West Ham’s Declan Rice burst forward as Sergio Aguero went to take the penalty, it was something I was looking for.
But the fans in the stadium were left puzzled because, while the communication on the big screen was good, it struggled on this one.
And the other big decision in that game was the disallowing of Gabriel Jesus’s goal because Raheem Sterling’s armpit was offside. Yes, it really was that fine a margin.
Now, we keep being told offside is black or white. The player is either onside or offside. But I watched intently at home and, even with those lines drawn across, could you really tell? I’m not so sure.
Ex-England defender Rio Ferdinand put it well on BT Sport: “If you add too much to this game you are going to detach it from the everyday man or woman coming in to the game.
“Look at American sports – a lot of people outside America wouldn’t watch it because they think there’s too much going on and too many rules.
“That’s the beauty of our game – it’s simple, everyone can play it. That’s starting to change now and I hope it doesn’t go too far.”
I have always been a big advocate of VAR. But I do have my doubts. Getting the decisions right is no longer the issue.
The question is whether the technology is worth the loss of passion and immediacy. When can we celebrate?
It will take time but we must embrace it because VAR is here to stay.
They were left up in the air and down in the mouth – and it was nothing to do with their 6,000mile Europa League travels in midweek.
Rather, they were reaching for the sick bags when Leander Dendoncker’s 50th-minute ‘goal’ was disallowed by VAR.
The shortcomings of the system were rammed home as there was mass confusion while a verdict was reached. Under the rules, the technology got it right – the ball struck Willy Boly’s arm before it popped out for Dendoncker to ram home.
But no one in the ground, including the players, had a clue what was going on because referee Andre Marriner, not surprisingly, had not spotted any infringement. The 98 seconds it took to reach the decision seemed like an eternity.
Leicester’s Jamie Vardy and Wolves’ Ruben Neves both laughed incredulously while the players stood around waiting for a verdict.
The ‘No eventually Goal’ decision delivered, but was the