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VAR (Video Assistant Referee)

Good for the game?.

  • Yes

    Votes: 42 30.7%
  • No

    Votes: 95 69.3%

  • Total voters
    137

Danners9

Available on a Free Transfer
Mar 30, 2004
13,998
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I went to Brisbane-Central Coast tonight in the A-League. There was a clear as day handball that was referred and not given. It was textbook: Player had his arm out away from his side, dangling there, and the cross was stopped. No movement towards the ball but he wasn't right in front of the player either.

A lot depends on who is giving the decisions. What we all saw was a penalty. It wasn't given. I even have a still.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZmZQ88UQAAVtRO.jpg
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
Could really have done with VAR today. Mane gets sent off, Liverpool don't win, Palace get at least a point. Kennedy gets sent off and Newcastle don't win, Huddersfield don't lose. Ndidy shouldn't be sent off and is.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
39,837
50,713
Another week that just emphasises why it's so important that VAR is integrated properly. City could potentially have lost a title (unlikely but at the very least, they could have won it last week) and be out of the CL because of decisions that officials got (in a couple of cases, horribly) wrong.
 

MattyP

Advises to have a beer & sleep with prostitutes
May 14, 2007
14,041
2,980
Another week that just emphasises why it's so important that VAR is integrated properly. City could potentially have lost a title (unlikely but at the very least, they could have won it last week) and be out of the CL because of decisions that officials got (in a couple of cases, horribly) wrong.

Over the two legs, City deserved to lose. Over the course of the 38 game League season, City deserve to and will win the league.

VAR could have affected some dynamics within each of those, but ultimately they will win/lose because it’s deserved.

I’ve still seen nothing of VAR that persuades me that the price of completely killing the emotion in the game is a price worth paying in getting decisions (mostly) right.
 

DanielCHillier

Well-Known Member
Feb 26, 2014
2,034
4,029
I think perhaps it could work just for offside decisions, as those aren't subjective, it's a clear line across the field and no one can argue with it, and it should also be fairly quick. But, in it's current iteration it just doesn't work for anything else and completely kills the game.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
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50,713
Over the two legs, City deserved to lose. Over the course of the 38 game League season, City deserve to and will win the league.

VAR could have affected some dynamics within each of those, but ultimately they will win/lose because it’s deserved.

I’ve still seen nothing of VAR that persuades me that the price of completely killing the emotion in the game is a price worth paying in getting decisions (mostly) right.

It doesn't kill the emotion of the game, any more than Sane having a perfectly good goal disallowed killed the emotion of the game.

The perception of Liverpool deserving to win is massively influenced by the incorrect decisions that went for them in this game, because if you take out goals that were allowed that shouldn't have been/disallowed goals that should have stood you have the potential to change the outcome and ergo the post script of who was the better team, which invariably gets skewed by the result.

I think it was a great tie played by two really good teams, but was effectively won by a ten minute spell by Liverpool which was started by an offside goal. If that goal doesn't get given, who knows how it all pans out. If City were correctly awarded the second goal tonight, a goal which followed their complete domination of Liverpool for that first 45 minutes, again, who knows what happens, Liverpool are now much more nervous, their position much more precarious. Do the still play the same etc etc

The emotions of elation and despair still exist completely, just as they do now if a player scores a goal, celebrates only to realise it's been flagged or disallowed for an infringement.
 

Bus-Conductor

SC Supporter
Oct 19, 2004
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In fact, Sane having a a perfectly good goal disallowed, didn’t just kill the emotion of the game, it killed the game.
 

cwy21

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2009
9,448
7,930
VAR without a doubt would have been good for football to give Man City the 2nd goal yesterday.

Where VAR struggles is the opening goal where you could argue VVD was fouled twice before Jesus scored and from what I've seen, in some games VAR pulls that goal out of the net and in some games it lets it go.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,562
VAR without a doubt would have been good for football to give Man City the 2nd goal yesterday.

Where VAR struggles is the opening goal where you could argue VVD was fouled twice before Jesus scored and from what I've seen, in some games VAR pulls that goal out of the net and in some games it lets it go.
That's where the talk about obvious errors comes in, isn't it. The second goal is a case of all of the on-pitch officials mistaking the identity of the player who played the ball to Sane. The first is a judgement call that can go either way, and VAR should not be used in these situations.
 

'O Zio

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2014
7,405
13,785
Barry Glendenning countered this by saying that the fifa website does mention that it's only to be used for clear and obvious mistakes so it sounds like even the people who have introduced it can't decide how it should be used.
That's where the talk about obvious errors comes in, isn't it. The second goal is a case of all of the on-pitch officials mistaking the identity of the player who played the ball to Sane. The first is a judgement call that can go either way, and VAR should not be used in these situations.

This is the main problem. They've just gone ahead and introduced it without being clear how it should really work in practice. They seem to have just said "here you go, see how you get on" and hoped it would all sort itself out but it obviously doesn't work like that. I'm broadly in favour of VAR but they way they've introduced it is an absolute farce and the WC is going to be a joke because of it. They need to pull it and come up with a proper system for how it needs to be used. The amount of times we're seeing it being used for these negligible decisions that are impossible to really call definitively one way or another is just a joke. It needs to be the ref calls it how he sees it on the pitch, and if it's a glaring error i.e. the person was easily onside or someone got elbowed in the face etc. then the VAR should overrule it. If someone's nose hair may have been 1mm offside then the VAR should never get involved.

I'm not a fan of the idea of time-limiting the decisions per se, but I do think if you can't make your mind up pretty much instantly having seen the replay then the ruling on the field should stand.
 

'O Zio

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2014
7,405
13,785
I went to Brisbane-Central Coast tonight in the A-League. There was a clear as day handball that was referred and not given. It was textbook: Player had his arm out away from his side, dangling there, and the cross was stopped. No movement towards the ball but he wasn't right in front of the player either.

A lot depends on who is giving the decisions. What we all saw was a penalty. It wasn't given. I even have a still.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DZmZQ88UQAAVtRO.jpg

Not a handball for me. That close to him it's just been kicked against his arm. There's no intention there as far as I'm concerned, albeit I'm basing it entirely on the picture, the video might tell a different story.
 

cwy21

Well-Known Member
May 11, 2009
9,448
7,930
The first is a judgement call that can go either way, and VAR should not be used in these situations.

That's how replay starts in all sports. And then its use grows because when that judgement call goes against your team you'll want VAR used. When that judgement call decides the Champions League or World Cup final, people will ask "why wasn't VAR used?" and the answer "sure it was a foul but it wasn't a clear and obvious error" won't go over well when it decides the first big final. Naturally FIFA will respond by saying in the future it should be used in those cases. Then in five years it'll be used eight times a game. Just like what happened in the NFL and the NBA.
 

'O Zio

Well-Known Member
Dec 27, 2014
7,405
13,785
That's how replay starts in all sports. And then its use grows because when that judgement call goes against your team you'll want VAR used. When that judgement call decides the Champions League or World Cup final, people will ask "why wasn't VAR used?" and the answer "sure it was a foul but it wasn't a clear and obvious error" won't go over well when it decides the first big final. Naturally FIFA will respond by saying in the future it should be used in those cases. Then in five years it'll be used eight times a game. Just like what happened in the NFL and the NBA.

The solution to that is for FIFA to not back down when people complain about it not being used. Keep it for clear and obvious errors by the on-pitch ref and have done with it. Sure, you'll still get people complaining "why wasn't VAR used for the XYZ incident" but at the end of the day that's not really any different to people complaining now about "why didn't the ref give a penalty there" etc. People will always complain about decisions which go against them, there's no stopping that, and even with replays they'll still be decisions people don't like, but ultimately more decisions will be correct by using replays than by not using replays. It's just up to FIFA to have some balls and not cave in when people moan about it not being used for every decision otherwise it'll just ruin the game.
 

DaiT

Well-Known Member
Jan 29, 2011
374
698
Will VAR be used in the Fa Cup semi? Hopefully not. Hope to never see it ever again.
 

nailsy

SC Supporter
Jul 24, 2005
30,536
46,628
https://www.foxsports.com.au/footba...r/news-story/6e08a9ab3602a9d15149de96703a1c32

Last night's 'Grand Final'. The goal was given because the VAR failed to capture the footage!

Lovely. It only decided the championship.. not that important.

That's terrible. I guess that's the problem with relying on new technology, it glitches out every now and then. I guess I'm a way it highlights why VAR is needed as Without it the biggest game of the season was decided by a mistake by the officials.
I'm still not sure why they can't just check the incident on TV though. I bet they showed it twenty times while waiting for the VAR decision.
 

Danners9

Available on a Free Transfer
Mar 30, 2004
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That's terrible. I guess that's the problem with relying on new technology, it glitches out every now and then. I guess I'm a way it highlights why VAR is needed as Without it the biggest game of the season was decided by a mistake by the officials.
I'm still not sure why they can't just check the incident on TV though. I bet they showed it twenty times while waiting for the VAR decision.
I saw the replay at least 5 times before they kicked off again. Focusing on who got the last touch, was anyone offside when the ball was headed down and then finally the cross.

Agreed, I don't know why they can't use the TV footage. You'd think it's mostly the same camera angles.
 

Danners9

Available on a Free Transfer
Mar 30, 2004
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One more for debate: https://streamable.com/6qnis

NE 3-2 Toronto is how it finished. Giovinco just scored a penalty, 89 mins, then this happens. Straight red. Nothing for the NE player who tried to grab the ball.

Suppose you do have to send Giovinco off for raising his hand, but the NE player instigates it to disrupt the restart and gets nothing. But given the context - last minute, just scored, trying to restart quickly and then interfered with by an opponent - maybe the ref should be more lenient and understanding. A comment on the /soccer reddit forum says the same ref (Mark Geiger) has a habit of giving out reds. If you look at his recent record, https://uk.soccerway.com/referees/mark-geiger/82588/, 4 reds in the last 7 games :D

He didn't give a clear pen for NE vs DC United in 2015, which could have made it 2-2, and Jermaine Jones ended up pushing him (got rightly sent off..) then Jones said in a statement: 'The problem is not only this game. It’s always the games when Geiger has us. These are really important games. If you have a referee that cannot handle it, and D.C. say they have a problem with him and we say we are not happy with him, then something is wrong.' as well as apologising....

Anyway, nothing here means Giovinco shouldn't have been sent off. Just that they've got a ref who knows where his red card is and isn't afraid of using it.

Earlier in the season, Giovinco was punched by a Chivas player and nothing was given even though it was seen, and Mark Noble earlier this week (without VAR...) The problem with VAR, as ever, is trusting those in charge of it.
 
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