SIMPLE VICTORIES WILL WIN VAR FANS

VAR had its usual good and bad weekend. Good because it allowed Bournemouth to win at Chelsea when, a year ago, a fine performance would not have got the result it deserved. Bad because officials monitoring the match between Southampton and West Ham do not appear to know what a foul is, and offside is still being judged in millimetres at Liverpool. The new technology needs friends, and a few easy wins. Here’s how to get one. On Sunday, in the first half of the match with Manchester City, Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi went over in the penalty area. The crowd screamed for a penalty, referee Paul Tierney was unmoved. At a studio across town no doubt the footage was inspected in case a mistake had been made. At which point, the VAR would have noted that Guendouzi dived. Clearly. Obviously. No question about it. The VAR should have informed Tierney of this and advised him to book Guendouzi (right) at the next break in play. There may have been a few howls from the home support, but the incident could be replayed on the stadium screen to show why the decision had been made, or simply explained with a hand signal. And that is a use of VAR the fans would love, because they hate cheating and moan when it goes unpunished. No complaints from managers or players, either — because who is going to make the case for a diver? So it is a straightforward win for VAR. Doesn’t slow the game, doesn’t interrupt the game, sees justice done and as long as some idiot doesn’t start making marginal calls or judgment calls on challenges open to interpretation, there really is no downside. And VAR would have more mates.