Did one last VAR-free weekend of FA Cup action prove why the technology is needed? Or was Alan Shearer right to blame it for the Newcastle fiasco?
There is also plenty on Arsenal, Spurs and the Liverpool COVID season.
Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.
What Arsenal could change
Some interesting emails recently about what Arsenal could change. I’d like to add my advice.
When facing a low block I think we need to have a shoot on sight mentality. Whenever there’s a gap and you’re within 30 yards, have a pop at the goal. Practice long range shooting drills in training and how to stretch defenses to open those shooting lanes. I think this team, with tricky players like Trossard, Eze, Madueke and Saka, can surely stretch defenses and open up sightlines to the goal. Plus players like Rice and Zubimendi are keen on long range efforts when they see the opening. The moment the defence looks stretched, one square pass into the centre and a one-touch or two-touch shot could make a difference. I know the xG isn’t high on those efforts but more shots can mean more goals and this Arsenal team isn’t taking enough shots per game.
Second thing I want to see is more dribbling and running at defenders. Often when there’s a parked bus one or two clever moves can open space and create valuable chances. I liked how Madueke wasn’t afraid to run at full-backs and try to get past them in the previous game. A lot of our fans lamented this as “frustrating” because he didn’t succeed most of the time but honestly doing something different is a better option that the usual sideways passes and crosses. I’d rather he tires out the full-back, fails to get past them 10 times but then manages once to produce a great goal-scoring opportunity rather than just trying to play predictable one-twos and through balls with the midfielders.
Eze needs to be played out wide, it’s clear that with the way teams play against us that he doesn’t have enough space in the centre of midfield. He has talent, quick feet and close control that could allow him to flourish when running at full-backs and taking them on. I want Arteta to encourage Eze, Trossard, Madueke and Saka to actually take on defenders and not be afraid of their pressing. Utilise all the skills that these guys have, not just their passing and crossing abilities.
Vish (AFC), Melbourne
READ MORE: Arsenal remain on course for Quad God status after avoiding costly fall
No Spurs relegation panic yet
Dear F365
I enjoyed Chris’s email about the left-field move of Spurs appointing Igor Tudor. True to form, they surprised this old-time Spurs fan.
You’ve got to give it to Spurs, they aren’t boring. Chris is absolutely right that we need to reset the mood, and that Tudor is a risky appointment, albeit a temporary one.
I’m not exactly popping champagne corks, but Tudor deserves an open mind.
But I disagree that the threat of relegation is very serious. Two teams are effectively down. We’re only in competition for one place, and we’re five points ahead of Forest. Once we’ve lost to Arsenal in the next game, we’ve got Fulham, Palace, Forest and Sunderland.in the next five fixtures. Liverpool is the fifth,
I’d back the new manager bounce to bring in at least six points from those five games. That puts us on 35 points with seven more games. Factor in Forest losing points in their games against City, Liverpool and (hopefully) Spurs, and that we still have to play the appalling Wolves, we are still well on target to reach the magic 40 points.
I’ll panic when we’re five points above the drop in April, not in February.
Kind regards,
Sam
VAR-free weekend
It’s been FA Cup 4th round weekend so no VAR in sight – yay!
As a supporter of a non premier league team (it’s been a while unfortunately) it’s not impacted my “enjoyment” of watching live football, however I’m interested to hear what the mailbox thinks of watching VAR free footy.
Better or worse?
The referee for the Villa v Newcastle match did VAR a solid by several crap decisions; the Digne non penalty handball possibly being the worst ever decision I’ve ever seen.
However did fans of Premier League teams find it refreshing that when a decision was made it was absolute and no waiting for ticks in boxes from the VAR overlords?
Brian (BRFC)
I’m one of those people who’s still in favour of VAR. The implementation of it adds a lot of frustration to the sport, but there’s still nothing worse than the injustice of a “clear and obvious error” winning a game against the team you follow. And winning a game following a goal that should have obviously been disallowed feels hollow. However, the implementation of VAR in the Premier league is full of flaws.
The “clear and obvious error” rule is a very important one for a number of reasons. The rules of football are ambiguous and subjective and as such it makes the implementation of VAR problematic. This is why we have the long delays. When is a 50/50 tussle a foul? What’s the difference between reasonable contact and a push? Where do you draw the line between a hand being in a natural and unnatural position? If the trailing leg of a player who is expecting contact from the defender touches that defender as they intentionally fall over is it a foul?
Nobody wants long delays in decision making. Nobody cares if an offside decision that looked even but was offside by a toe or a heel is allowed to stand. Nobody feels massive injustice if a penalty because of a subjective handball was or wasn’t given. These very subjective and minute differences are not the reason we want VAR.
This brings us back to the importance of the “clear and obvious error”, This is all we want ruled out of the game. If it’s clear and obvious then we shouldn’t need to draw lines on the offside. If it’s clear and obvious then we shouldn’t need five minutes of replays. If it’s clear and obvious then it should be clear and obvious.
So, my proposal to solve these problems and to remove the long delays is this. If you have three VAR officials who are given 30 seconds to look at the replays and immediately state whether it is clear and obvious and all three agree then revert the decision, Otherwise, forget about it, and move on. The longest break is 30 seconds, there’s no endless slow motion relays. The game in general stands by the on-field decision, but we rule out the clear and obvious error. There’s no offside lines. There’s no replays of an incident that nobody noticed before.
Mistakes still happen, but the really obvious ones are gone. There’s more joy in the game, there’s less delays, and there’s less feeling of injustice. It’s a simple solution to a subjective problem.
I have one other point I want to make to showcase the ineptitude of the premier league in relation to refereeing. The decision to give refs a microphone to increase transparency is a good one. Again, football is subjective, and hearing the thought process of the VAR and on-field referee could give an understanding and empathy towards the decision that they have come to, similar to how it works in rugby.
How is it implemented in the Premier League? We see replays. We see the ref look at the replays. We don’t hear any discussion. We don’t hear any thoughts. A decision is made. The ref uses hand signals and their whistle to let us know what that decision was. The referee then tells us the decision that was made (which we already know) with their voice, using their microphone. We learned nothing extra from what they just said. It’s like they were told to implement a change to make the game better, but completely missed the point when they implemented it. It’s bizarre and baffling that the ref’s are made to do this.
Rant over,
Neil (Galway)
Am I the only person who finds it ridiculous that the likes of Alan Shearer look to blame VAR for incorrect decisions made in a game where it wasn’t even being used? He was a good player, but a philosopher of football he certainly ain’t.
Also, am I the only person who remembers football before VAR came in? It feels like I am sometimes, because no one ever talks about the many, many mistakes referees used to make, and the many fans, players, pundits and especially managers who complained vociferously about referees and who called repeatedly for referees to be given more help.
If VAR was ever scrapped, its detrators should agree to never complain about a bad refereeing decision about a crucial incident ever again (because you can’t have it both ways, VAR almost always gets it correct). But we all know that they wouldn’t. Maybe they just want to demand impossibly high standards from referees and then enjoy blaming and bullying them when they fail to meet those standards?
It seems to me that VAR-detractors like Shearer are delusional about football before VAR, delusional about the ability of fallible human beings to make consistently good decisions, and in some cases, delusional about their own motivations.
Thomas Ewens
The biggest FA Cup story
I have no comment on the football, but the guy in the seagull costume was absolutely elite. Well done sir/madam.
Dan, Plastic LFC
Pure filth
I’ve watched the Szoboszlai goal more times than I care to mention. Franky, this is what Valentine’s is all about.
Rob
The hubris – humiliation nexus
Beware stirring the Gods of Karma… It didn’t take long for poetic disaster to befall Leicester after their fans chanted “we want nine” while 3-0 up in the first half against the Saints last Tuesday.
Not only did their defence capitulate in the second half to a 4-3 reversal of classic proportions, but then the follow-up humbling was just four days later, crashing out of the Cup with another defeat to the Saints.
For their sake, let’s hope they haven’t irked the Gods of Relegation.
Remy the Saint
The Liverpool COVID season
Hi, I would be keen to respond to Neil LFC USA
Imagine I’m running a marathon. I’m 23 miles in and I have an enormous lead, I’m definitely going to win. Suddenly the race is stopped for a tragic event that was in no way my fault.
Four months later the organisers restart the race with the people in exactly the same positions and I (as was clearly going to happen) romp to victory, running the last few miles at a canter.
I can’t legitimately say that I won a marathon, I can legitimately say I would’ve won the marathon, but I didn’t due to reasons that I was in no way responsible for.
We are human beings capable of holding more than one seemingly (although not actually) opposing thoughts.
1) Liverpool were going to win the league and their season was an outstanding achievement.
2) Liverpool did not win the league.
3) Liverpool were awarded the League title.
I am of the opinion (for what a single opinion is worth) that point 3 was the correct decision in a terrible time, but points one and two are still valid.
My opinions are my own, they are subjective but sincerely held.
Thanks
Andy, Watford FC (no dog in this fight)
