VAR

[ASCPFC]

Offside and VAR: Is Arsene Wenger's daylight idea the solution?

Is the offside law about to change to Arsene Wenger's daylight idea? And should football make that change just because of VAR?

www.bbc.co.uk

Surely for the next manager thread.

 

[steeleye20]

Offside and VAR: Is Arsene Wenger's daylight idea the solution?

Is the offside law about to change to Arsene Wenger's daylight idea? And should football make that change just because of VAR?

www.bbc.co.uk

Definite 'yes' for me.

There must be 'daylight' between the last player (not finger-nails etc.).

It may go in Arsene's favour next week, he has been advocating it for a few years.

😎

 

[Willo]

VAR errors increase - every mistake so far in 2025-26 Premier League

The Premier League's KMI Panel makes judgements on every key decisions. Here's what they say the VAR has got wrong.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[steeleye20]

Long delays, irate managers, wrong messaging, often dubious outcomes, the quest for perfection is doing real harm making serious inroads to the continuity of the football matches.

Commentators and pundits reflecting this after another VAR intrusive day in the PL, which we fortunately missed.

VAR: Are lengthy decisions ruining games as a spectacle?

More contentious VAR decisions in the Premier League have raised further questions on its effect on games as a spectacle.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Phil’s Barber]

VAR is causing far more issues and controversy than games officiated normally.

Besides which VAR is killing the enjoyment and euphoria of watching the game.

 

[RubinsCube]

VAR is causing far more issues and controversy than games officiated normally.

Besides which VAR is killing the enjoyment and euphoria of watching the game.

Agreed. But I think VAR is a symptom arising from two different causes: the lawmakers and the laws.

The laws are so overengineered and vague these days that trying to apply VAR to any one situation enables more than one conclusion to be reached more often than not. How was Solanke's first goal today not a foul on Guehi, for example? He kicked straight through the back of him.

It is hard to escape the suspicion that this is by design. Money has flowed into the game in general and the Premier League in particular. It is a romantic notion to maintain the game we love is not corrupt; history will likely show in time quite how bad things have become since the early 1990s.

I found it interesting watching some old "The Big Match" reruns on ITV recently. One of the managers (I think it was Big Mal) was lamenting how referees were being forced to officiate games like robots rather than using their own personalities and interpretations. Interesting how times have changed.

 

[Phil’s Barber]

Villa v Brentford 01/02/26 - Schade straight red card for pushing back his boot on Matty Cash.

A week earlier Palace v Chelsea 24/01/26 - Neto deliberate stamp on Sarr…not even looked at.

Seriously, wtf is going on? How difficult is it to get consistency with VAR?!

 

[DutchEagleJohan]

I have zero sympathy for Marco Silva in general terms but think he is 100 percent right about the VAR (Bell)and Ref (Brooks) "making things up" re the Man Utd free kick, that was initially given as a pen. The pen was for the tackle, the tackle was 100 percent no foul then the "we know each other old boys network" covers each other, a goal from the free kick the result. That is whats happening with the "screen decisons time after time too" Appaling.

Put all the money spent on VAR towards bettering the standars of Refs and/or get foreign refs in.

 

[Phil’s Barber]

I have zero sympathy for Marco Silva in general terms but think he is 100 percent right about the VAR (Bell)and Ref (Brooks) "making things up" re the Man Utd free kick, that was initially given as a pen. The pen was for the tackle, the tackle was 100 percent no foul then the "we know each other old boys network" covers each other, a goal from the free kick the result. That is whats happening with the "screen decisons time after time too" Appaling.

Put all the money spent on VAR towards bettering the standars of Refs and/or get foreign refs in.

Yup, have they released the full audio of that incident yet?!

 

[mtp1958]

VAR is being used incorrectly , its there to spot clear and obvious errors , not we will find a reason to feel important , Brentford player sent off for stamping everybody spotted it , Netto no body in the world saw him stamping on Sarr ,think it was Sarr , very strange that we'll done VAR for ruining our game

 

[DutchEagleJohan]

Yup, have they released the full audio of that incident yet?!

Don’t think so, not sure they can be forced to do so?

 

[Dogburger]

See Brentford have been cheated at Newcastle . Clear pen to Brentford first half and a Red for trippier .Second half Newcastle player throws himself to the ground VAR ref gives penalty saying a clear trip (Where?) . Absolute joke decisions .

St James Park has become a cheats venue where you will have to beat them twice to get a draw

 

[steeleye20]

Chelsea VAR penalty at Crystal Palace 'a mistake' panel finds.

The KMI panel, (key match incidents).

The ref Darren England 'needed some persuading' he should have stuck to his guns, the ball is clearly deflected by Canvot's hip.

😕😕

 

[Phil’s Barber]

Chelsea VAR penalty at Crystal Palace 'a mistake' panel finds.

The KMI panel, (key match incidents).

The ref Darren England 'needed some persuading' he should have stuck to his guns, the ball is clearly deflected by Canvot's hip.

😕😕

SO annoying! We said this at the time.

How can they get it so f***ing wrong?!

The whole thing is a joke.

 

[MrRobbo]

SO annoying! We said this at the time.

How can they get it so f***ing wrong?!

The whole thing is a joke.

It really is a mess isn't it, everyone watching that video could see it deflected up onto his hand. There is just not excuse for getting that wrong.

 

[Forest Hillbilly]

So people may have seen the FA cup game yesterday, between Noocassel and Villa.

Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle: An advert for VAR? How many big decisions were wrong in FA Cup tie?

Newcastle United beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round in a match dominated by a number of controversial decisions without VAR.

www.bbc.co.uk

A game without VAR, which had such glaring , truly horrendous refereeing errors, to make VAR look like the obvious solution.
I would just like to reiterate that I don't think VAR is anywhere near the finished article. It is however, on the right track, and a better form of VAR (than we currently have) would have made the Villa v Noocassel a lot different.
I'd be interested in Eagleman13's comments

 

[Phil’s Barber]

So people may have seen the FA cup game yesterday, between Noocassel and Villa.

Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle: An advert for VAR? How many big decisions were wrong in FA Cup tie?

Newcastle United beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round in a match dominated by a number of controversial decisions without VAR.

www.bbc.co.uk

A game without VAR, which had such glaring , truly horrendous refereeing errors, to make VAR look like the obvious solution.
I would just like to reiterate that I don't think VAR is anywhere near the finished article. It is however, on the right track, and a better form of VAR (than we currently have) would have made the Villa v Noocassel a lot different.
I'd be interested in Eagleman13's comments

VAR is not the answer.

We have seen in this short experiment so far that we still get loads of mistakes even with VAR and the controversy seems to be worse with VAR than in Leagues without it. There is also NO consistency with the application of it.

What the fixture in question highlighted yesterday is the damage VAR has done to our officiating and just how s*** they have become when so reliant on it. There will always be mistakes with tight offsides, I would rather have that than the microscopic analysis we get for 8 minutes (Barcelona) that still doesn’t necessarily give the correct decision. As for the Digne handball, that is just purely and simply horrendous refereeing from the officials. VAR has messed with their heads and they need to refocus on just refereeing the games properly without outside distraction or influence.

VAR is killing the game, not just the enjoyment of it.

Get back to indicating immediate offsides, simplify the handball rule and keep goal line technology.

 

[Eagleman13]

So people may have seen the FA cup game yesterday, between Noocassel and Villa.

Aston Villa 1-3 Newcastle: An advert for VAR? How many big decisions were wrong in FA Cup tie?

Newcastle United beat Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round in a match dominated by a number of controversial decisions without VAR.

www.bbc.co.uk

A game without VAR, which had such glaring , truly horrendous refereeing errors, to make VAR look like the obvious solution.
I would just like to reiterate that I don't think VAR is anywhere near the finished article. It is however, on the right track, and a better form of VAR (than we currently have) would have made the Villa v Noocassel a lot different.
I'd be interested in Eagleman13's comments

Well FH, i'm still not convinced by var, it does have it's uses, but as Willo keeps saying, Refs are only human. The officials in that game, you could see they were waiting for var to kick in & forgot what to do when it didn't. As far as that 'article' that's just the bbc with another agenda.

Loads of people/posters keep saying about consistency & i agree, BUT, as long as you are using humans, you will never get that. How many times on match threads etc do we all have a slightly different view/take on the same incident? Blatant handball inside the box? Yes. Clear offside for villa's goal? Yes. Would've var stepped in? Yes. Would we have had 5-8mins on each decision? Yes. I thought the game was great, mistakes included, brilliant.

Well, you did ask. 😀

 

[Willo]

Well FH, i'm still not convinced by var, it does have it's uses, but as Willo keeps saying, Refs are only human. The officials in that game, you could see they were waiting for var to kick in & forgot what to do when it didn't. As far as that 'article' that's just the bbc with another agenda.

Loads of people/posters keep saying about consistency & i agree, BUT, as long as you are using humans, you will never get that. How many times on match threads etc do we all have a slightly different view/take on the same incident? Blatant handball inside the box? Yes. Clear offside for villa's goal? Yes. Would've var stepped in? Yes. Would we have had 5-8mins on each decision? Yes. I thought the game was great, mistakes included, brilliant.

Well, you did ask. 😀

Managers make mistakes, as do players and officials. Perfection is not in the human gift.

 

[NEILLO]

Well FH, i'm still not convinced by var, it does have it's uses, but as Willo keeps saying, Refs are only human. The officials in that game, you could see they were waiting for var to kick in & forgot what to do when it didn't. As far as that 'article' that's just the bbc with another agenda.

Loads of people/posters keep saying about consistency & i agree, BUT, as long as you are using humans, you will never get that. How many times on match threads etc do we all have a slightly different view/take on the same incident? Blatant handball inside the box? Yes. Clear offside for villa's goal? Yes. Would've var stepped in? Yes. Would we have had 5-8mins on each decision? Yes. I thought the game was great, mistakes included, brilliant.

Well, you did ask. 😀

The level of competency of referees and VAR officials is questionable. VAR seems to have instilled a level of uncertainty into them. The Villa game yesterday being a prime example.

We used to say that refs errors evened themselves out over the course of the season. Now we have much the same expectation with VAR.

VAR is sucking the life out of the game. But it's being enabled by ridiculous rules around the likes of offside and handball.