22 Feb 2020 15:55:16
Imagine being a Chelsea fan and having to stomach the Maguire and Lo Celso VAR decisions within the same week. Absolutely shocking!

1.) 22 Feb 2020
22 Feb 2020 16:35:01
Winning the match today made it a bit easier to digest that decision, but it's simply astonishing how they take minutes to review it and still come to the inexplicably wrong conclusion.

2.) 22 Feb 2020
22 Feb 2020 16:49:21
They said they made a mistake. which begs the questions of what is the point of having VAR if they cannot get something as blatant as that correct after seeing replays. Officials are the problem - incompetent and more concerned with protecting their own backs rather than officiating games properly. VAR has, instead of being a tool to rectify genuine mistakes, been used as a tool to support officials incapable of doing the job properly. Utterly awful.

{Ed025's Note - your spot on seano, VAR is a disgrace and should be binned as a matter of urgency..

3.) 22 Feb 2020
22 Feb 2020 19:09:43
It was as bad as the Maguire error the other day.

4.) 22 Feb 2020
22 Feb 2020 21:10:56
Just get rid of it, it’s not even improving it’s getting gradually worse every week.

5.) 22 Feb 2020
22 Feb 2020 22:12:18
I'm of the opinion we should not get rid of VAR as I think used properly it can be a force for good in the game. I've seen games from other leagues from around the world where it is used brilliantly, the A leauge in Australia for one, they take a few seconds to look at the monitor on the pitch and the ref makes a decision.

Here's my feeling, I think the Premier league are deliberately sabotaging the use of VAR with stupid decisions and taking 3 minuets a time to micro analyse an offside so people say what you are, let's get rid . So when a refs make shocking decisions in a game and there's no VAR the leauge can say " you had VAR, you did not want it so we got rid, live with the reffing as it is".

6.) 23 Feb 2020
23 Feb 2020 00:51:25
Out of curiosity, there have been instances of retroactive punishment before VAR. Is that a consideration for Lo Celso and Maguire?

7.) 23 Feb 2020
23 Feb 2020 05:10:15
I 100% agree Kimuraking. Just use it for offsides and then let the ref view other decisions before making/ overturning them.

8.) 23 Feb 2020
23 Feb 2020 05:37:55
Var is far from perfect which has been disappointing to us all this year but the fact is that there has still been a huge increase in correct decisions being made as opposed to previous years despite many mistakes still occurring due to human error and bad officiating. It will improve over time but we're overreacting to some incidents. Without VAR would there be the same outcry regarding lo Celso and Maguire decisions if it was last season and the ref made the same decision? Of course we would criticise but not to this extent, officiating is the problem, not VAR.

9.) 23 Feb 2020
23 Feb 2020 07:33:54
Apparently I'm the only person left who doesn't see the issue with VAR, yes they made a mistake, but so did the ref, he just gave a throw in, why is noone talking about that? Or saying we need to take refs out of the game?
All VAR is is a replay, at the end of the day I think its more likely to get the correct result with the option of replays from a number of angles compared to one man's view from one angle once.
All VAR mistakes are down to the officials so why would I be screaming out for them to have even less help?
Take VAR away from the refs, tighten up and simplify a few rules around offside and handball.

10.) 23 Feb 2020
23 Feb 2020 10:16:40
I'm with you JevonScholes. Fans are just frustrated by VAR so keep overreacting and shouting "bin it", without recognising that these red cards and De Brunye/ Barnes penalty calls are just human judgement and knowledge issues - not technology issues. I hope they employ sports scientists and independent advisors to work with VAR teams to get over these issues rather than going back to much worse system where the referee and linesman could make an absolute howler and simply claim 'we didn't see it'.

11.) 23 Feb 2020
23 Feb 2020 10:32:15
The problem with VAR here is we use it differently than everyone else. For some reason we decided refs shouldn't look at the monitor - other leagues just do this.

The ref should look at VAR screen and make decisions this way it remains his decision but he gets the chance to rectify any mistakes.

Personally I think a case can be made for removing the ref from the pitch entirely. With the cameras we have these days he can see everything from a booth, much more than he can on the pitch. He could also not be influenced by crowds, players and managers if he is not on the pitch. It would also enable great refs to continue even when their fitness can't keep up anymore.

12.) 23 Feb 2020
23 Feb 2020 14:35:46
The ref's don't get a pass on this one, I'm sorry. You don't need to have seen that Lo Celso incident 5 times to see it was a straight red. You only needed to see it twice at best to know. The fact that the VAR operator could not see the challenge was up high on Azpi's leg with him on the ground (defenceless) and with the ball already gone out of play, after 5 shots at it just tells you the level of incompetence we are dealing with.

To make things worse, why didn't Micheal Oliver do what he had done before, go see the monitor on the sideline and judge for himself cos refs are allowed to do that now? If he did not do that then that is his fault and should be belted for it. IMO, VAR works very well cos as we see in other leagues, they are trying to make it work. In the PL, it seems like they wanted it to fail from jump so they can discard it later and it is getting close to that time now.