VIDEO NASTY
Decisions were right but VAR not shown in good light Farcical to have ref halting player’s run-up for penalty
FIRST of all, I believe the three major incidents involving VAR on Saturday all arrived at the correct decision in the end. However, the process of making those calls needs some work.
For example, you cannot have a player beginning his run-up for a penalty only for the referee to stop him in his tracks and award an earlier offside, as happened at the expense of Burnley in their game against Barnsley.
Let’s start with that, as it was a farcical situation and did not show the process of VAR in a good light.
Burnley were awarded a penalty when Matej Vydra was fouled by Dimitri Cavare. At this point, the video referee should have told referee Simon Hooper to hold everything until checks have been made. In turn, Hooper should have informed all inside Turf Moor that this was the case through use of body language, pointing to his ear and keeping the ball in his arms.
This did not happen and Vydra was about to take the penalty when Hooper received word that both the taker and strike partner Sam Vokes had been offside in the moments before the foul.
The video referee got it right, the correct call was offside and no penalty. But I understand the frustrations of Burnley boss Sean Dyche because the delay was not acceptable.
A better example of VAR came during the first half of Manchester United v Reading, when Fred was flagged offside having just scored a goal.
Once a goal is scored, the VAR process kicks in and the video referee must check three things: Was there a foul in the build-up? Was the ball out of play? Was there an offside?
Fred, the scorer, was offside when Juan Mata played the ball through, so the goal could not stand. However, Omar Richards fouled Mata as he attempted to bring the ball under control and that was the first offence.
A penalty was awarded and that was the correct call. The delay was understandable as there were a few checks to be made.
My concern is that the referee, Stuart Atwell, did not make the final decision and instead relied on information from the video referee.
This happened during the early part of the World Cup and incorrect calls and inconsistencies emerged. They made a change so that if the video referee doubts the original decision on the pitch, he must send the referee to the review area.
We have to see that implemented in the Premier League.
This was also the case involving referee Martin Atkinson during Crystal Palace v Grimsby. He played an advantage after Andrew Fox’s challenge on Palace winger Andros Townsend in the second minute. He clearly did not think it was worthy of a red card.
However, the video referee informed Atkinson that the tackle had clearly endangered the safety of Townsend and everyone would agree Fox’s studs made contact with his opponent’s shin at speed. It was a red card and the correct call was made.
But I would prefer to see Atkinson go to the review area for such decisions.
For the big calls such as red cards and penalties, go and take a second look for yourself.