VAR

[ironmaidenmania]

VAR would be OK for glaring mistakes. But not for marginal offsides. Lingard in the ENgland semi-final was about 5mm offside. That is not a glaring mistake because the human eye wouldn't spot it, same with the England Women's goal last night. Penalty decision was a good call by VAR and exactly why it is needed.

Red cards, penalities, mistaken identity are fine plus goal line decisions.

Beyond that - it's a no from me!

[ktvillan]

It doesn't need to ruin the game if applied properly though.  For me there have been so many blatantly wrong incidents that have gone against England, Ireland or Villa that I've longed wanted video replays.    Just not the risibly incompetent way the authorities are currently applying it. 

It might have stopped that wanker Poll from "managing the occasion" and obliged him to apply the rules and send Vidic off. 

[Simon Page]

Yeah, but by not sending Vidic off we can claim we lost to the ref instead of an aging Michael Owen. When the bad decisions go for you you celebrate and when they go against you can ignore your own deficiencies. Win-win.

[Ger Regan]

I think it could help in terms of offsides. There are plenty of reverse examples of goals disallowed for offside that should have stood, so if linos were more inclined to hold off on raising the flag and get it reviewed than they might otherwise be, then I think it would be worth it.

[UK Redsox]

Very in favour but clearly it’s a work in progress and will improve over time

[brian green]

Because it is an open invitation to examine the minutiae of the game I am against it.  An official's decision is imperfect but it is instantaneous.  Technology will make it possible to confirm a call down to a millimetre.  Witness Stokes dismissal against India when Hawkeye enlarged a shot of the bowler's foot and the dismissal was upheld by the width of a matchstick.  What we are going to get is the football equivalent of Hamlet's soliloquy  needing to be repeated in mid play because somebody in the audience thought the Prince of Denmark said "slings and marrows of outrageous fortune".

[KRS]

VAR is a good thing if used correctly i.e. where there is a glaring error that drastically affects a game and which most observers can see clearly even if the officials are dumb, blind, incompetent or "pretending not to see".  e.g. the Lampard goal against Germany, the hand of God goal, Thierry Henry's double handball against Ireland, even El Ghazi's sending off at Leeds and Gayle's penalty swan dive against Forest.  etc.  It  should never be used for marginal bloody offside decisions where someone's cock-end is slightly ahead of the last defender and to review every bloody goal that is scored in case there was a nudge on someone in the build up.  That is totally killing the spontaneity of the game and is ridiculous.
 
In the hands of FIFA/UEFA it's a disaster because they aren't using it in a sensible way.  Either apply only to the glaringly obvious, or else allow each team two appeals per game and nothing else.

Totally agree with this.  It should only be used in Red Card or Penalty-type decisions.  Not for every nit-picky offside or minor foul in the build-up of a goal.  If someone makes a blatant dive (which happens all too often), and they're demanding a red-card, the head official should be able to call the replay booth and get a definitive answer within 30 seconds.  Too often, these moments wind up with both teams screaming at a back-peddling ref who's try to get some order of the situation, and it usually takes 2 or 3 minutes just to get things sorted.  Instead, have him call the booth, give a card to the offender/diver and play on.  VAR would actually speed up the process in this instance, penalize the proper party, and probably help to eventually eliminate diving.

Pretty much spot on, and I would also add that the VAR goal line technology has been excellent and is a perfect example (like tennis or cricket) of how technology should continue to be used.

[CT]

VAR is a good thing if used correctly i.e. where there is a glaring error that drastically affects a game and which most observers can see clearly even if the officials are dumb, blind, incompetent or "pretending not to see".  e.g. the Lampard goal against Germany, the hand of God goal, Thierry Henry's double handball against Ireland, even El Ghazi's sending off at Leeds and Gayle's penalty swan dive against Forest.  etc.  It  should never be used for marginal bloody offside decisions where someone's cock-end is slightly ahead of the last defender and to review every bloody goal that is scored in case there was a nudge on someone in the build up.  That is totally killing the spontaneity of the game and is ridiculous.

Sums it up perfectly for me.

Yep, me too.

[PeterWithesShin]

Goal line technology works well because there's no human involved. The technology automatically and immediately knows the ball was, or wasn't, over the line. VAR is different in that it involves a few humans and once we're involved it tends to be a bit shit.

[KRS]

For me I don't want to see goals disallowed because the strikers foot is offside or a player was 6 inches offside in the build up to a goal. I still want the officials to be able to officiate the game.

Agree. The offside rules need to be adapted and updated in line with technology improvements if they are going to keep using it for offside. As it stands, the use of VAR for offside with the current rules is too clinical and basically wrong (a trailing foot or arm shouldn't result in a goal being disallowed particularly when the VAR video at when the time the ball is played is open to interpretation frame by frame).

I also don't want to see penalties given for the slightest touch. Football is a physical game and contact is part and parcel of the game. The problem with VAR is that in slow motion all/any contact has to result in a penalty and that can't be right.

Also agree with this. With VAR you can't argue that England shouldn't have had a penalty last night, however the end result of this will be that players will be going down under the slightest of touches knowing that they will most likely get a penalty under VAR review...we will soon have "professional divers" being justified by VAR. You think diving has been bad for years now...just wait until players start diving to take advantage of VAR.

[Jon Crofts]

It’s the right technology poorly implemented.

The day will come when decisions are reversed after the game, goals ruled out and points awarded or deducted, it will happen it’s just a case of when.

[PeterWithesShin]

I doubt many will be offside for a trailing arm or foot. 

It would be nice if VAR was used for dives and the FA really clamped down on it by dishing out decent bans. I'm not overly hopeful.

[Small Rodent]

I get both arguments but I’m swayed in favour of it for the
Main reason that referees tend to favour the bigger teams.

VAR will not change that. They just won’t see it on the screen.

[KRS]

I doubt many will be offside for a trailing arm or foot. 

Are you stalking me PWS? I'm pretty sure the Cameroon goal against England was for a trailing foot at the time the ball was played.

[Legion]

Arsene Wenger to be appointed as head of VAR?