VAR for 2020/21

[The Subhuman]

So listening to Talksport earlier and it's been announced apparently that all pens will be looked at to check for encroachment from defenders and attackers and also if the goalkeeper moves off his line before the ball is kicked if the kick is saved or missed

If so there will be a re-kick. I think that's about 100% of pens this season that were illegal

Also linesman are being advised to keep their flag down for tight offsides. The VAR will make those distinctions after a goal had been scored. I guess this is so teams don't stop defending if they see a flag go up, there was a case of a goal being ruled legal after the linesman put his flag up and the defenders stopped last season. Forget who

2 hour plus football games anybody?

[The Subhuman]

It should also be a slight disadvantage to those teams new to VAR, so the promoted teams.

[danhirons]

Hate it. Nothing about those fractional milimetre offside calls either ffs

[Leeds1000]

Always makes me laugh when they spend ages looking at VAR, give the decision and then people back in the studios are still divided on the incident.

[HarryofOz]

A great innovation to football. Long may it continue.

[The Subhuman]

A great innovation to football. Long may it continue.

Only if it's used well which currently it isn't.

[Peter in Blackpool]

Only if it's used well which currently it isn't.

so how would you use it?

in a tight offside, linesmen are encouraged not to flag, if a goal is scored vat will check it.....suppose strikers boot is 2 inches offside, do u say, oh award a goal he is pretty much level......so what about 3 inch...or 4 inch....where do u draw the line? if its offside, its offside.

the controversy occurs when its really referees interpretation, such as hand to ball or ball to hand.....offside player interfering with play or not?

another problem is when var looks at incidents missed by the onfield officials......such as the mitrovic incident last month....play continued....if after 3 minutes of nonstop play fulham scored.....would var had disallowed the goal? How would we have felt if fulham had scored and the goal was awarded cos the mitrovic incident had been missed?

Is disallowing such a goal a fault with var insofar as play can be pulled back several minutes....should the goal stand? then what? does var award a free kick and send mitrovic off.....then how can the goal stand....should mitrovic get away with it if the ball stays in play for x minutes?

I would have thought that the Leeds captain could ask the referee to stop the game to check var at the time of the incident.

[Cjay]

Coops at set pieces will concede a penalty a game!!!!

VAR will destroy him.

Its a good idea but its flawed is VAR imo

[Fridge]

Coops at set pieces will concede a penalty a game!!!!

VAR will destroy him.

Its a good idea but its flawed is VAR imo

He will have to learn quick!!

Just imagine all the offsides for the likes of Alioski next season!

[Smudge3920]

So we are 3 games in and it seems we are already talking about VAR decisions more than the games... Having been on the wrong end of VAR decisions already I fear it going to be much worse, and spoil the season.
This weekend alone, Steve Bruce had the balls to admit Newcastle "got away" with one but went on to critisise the rules openly in his press conference, stating he knows "even though they got away with one it will come back to bite us in the arse at some point"
Conversely the Scum manager said , it was absolutely the right decision even if it was awarded after the final whistle, because the handball happened in regulation play.... Typical scum, wait till the first one goes against him.

[Irish Ian]

The one against Spurs last night is the worst one yet.

But it is the way that the laws of the game are being interpreted that is the issue.

[Byebyegeegee]

The handball rules this season are ridiculous and will spoil the whole Premier League competition if allowed to continue in the same vein.

Having watched match of the day 2 last night I’m fully in agreement with Roy Hodgson who said something like if a hand ball (in the penalty area) is deliberate then it is a penalty, if it is accidental then it is not. That, to me, is completely sensible and if there is a doubt about a particular incident, which wouldn’t happen very often, VAR can then be used to confirm whether it was deliberate or not.

Some (most) of the hand ball penalty decisions so far this season, including Koch’s against Liverpool, should not have been given. if these crazy rules are not reviewed then defending will become impossible and the outcome of games will become no more than a lottery.

[Peter in Blackpool]

...but the handball rule/ interpretation is a directive given to referees and has nothing to do with VAR.

Given a tight offside, would you rather the referee and linesman guess whether it was offside or not....or would you prefer slow motion replays to ascertain whether it was offside or not

[Byebyegeegee]

As I say, to me, it’s the handball rule that is wrong and in this connection VAR should only be used to ascertain whether a handball was deliberate or not.

VAR is obviously more reliable than a linesman’s instant judgement for tight offside decisions so in that respect I think it’s ok, if it’s offside it’s offside whether it’s by a yard or two or an inch or two.

I still think, that given some of the very poor refereeing decisions we have had against us down the years, I’d rather have VAR than not. In the long run I think it will be of benefit to us rather than a hindrance.

[Smudge3920]

From the rule book...

So should a penalty be given every time the ball hits a player's hand in the area?
No. The exceptions are if the ball hits a player's arm directly from the player's own head or body and if a player is falling and their arm is between themselves and the ground for support. There is also room for interpretation as to what makes a player's body 'unnaturally bigger'.

So, if a player has his arms by their side when the ball hits their hand/arm, they may not automatically concede a penalty.

So both the ref and VAR got it wrong in Koch's case...As it deflected of his leg onto his arm

[Byebyegeegee]

If this was the referees decision without referring it to VAR then it was simply a mistake by the referee, as he must have missed the fact that the ball had deflected off Koch’s leg.
On the other hand, if all handball penalty decisions are referred to VAR as a matter of course, which I understand may be the case, then there is absolutely no excuse for getting the decision wrong. It was obvious, when viewed in slow motion, that the ball had deflected off Koch’s leg and that he had no chance of moving his arm out of the way.

The Newcastle penalty against Tottenham was, if anything, an even worse decision than the Koch one, so where we go from here I’ve no idea, but something has to change.

[The Subhuman]

One of our former great refs has said today if he we're still reffing he'd ignore the rules and not give the pens ...Now I've heard that these rules can be adjusted in season but for me that fucks up the continuity of the league as it's already cost teams points including us.

[Smudge3920]

More penalties awarded already than the whole of last season...

[Byebyegeegee]

More penalties awarded already than the whole of last season...

Well that says it all about the ludicrousness of this handball rule (or more accurately the new interpretation of it). It’s making a mockery of the game!

[Kennyb41]

What an absolute fcking disgrace for the integrity of the English game, and it's left me livid.

As soon as i saw the replay of the Dias 'goal' i saw from the freezeframe the Spurs leg was playing him onside, htf can we get something so drastically wrong when Cricket and Rugby are in the main getting everything better for their game ?

Human error has been blamed and the twats should be banished to Siberia.