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VAR spoilt the game

Be careful what you wish for as David Gold often says.

Well, I was one of the supporters who thought VAR was a good idea and called for its introduction to the Premier League.

I know it is early days but the first game was sploit for me at the London Stadium and the technology seems to favor those watching from home and not at the ground.

Muted goal celebrations by City fans not knowing if a goal would stand, secondary quieter celebrations when the goal was given and waiting ages for a decision from Stockley Park damaged the atmosphere and general flow of the game.

The biggest cheer from West Ham supporters came as Man City’s goal was disallowed and the biggest groan of the afternoon was VAR’s decision to disallow Fabianski’s save.

Fans in the ground got little of the promised evidence those at home enjoyed, we had to rely on basic Premier League graphics on the big screens and were shown only one still image of the disallowed goal but other off-side decision images were not shown despite being promised.

Probably the biggest confusion at the ground was why Man City’s penalty had to be re-taken, we had all assumed that the goalkeeper moved off his line only to find out later that it was Declan Rice encroachment.

With limited mobile signal and no Wi-Fi, it is so difficult to understand what is going on and it must be improved to avoid fans in the ground turning against VAR.

A recent study analysed every major decision last season and it resulted in West Ham finishing ninth instead of tenth, I do wonder whether it worth the hassle.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

7 comments on “VAR spoilt the game

  1. I’m against VAR, but as you say if we would have finished one place higher, then it would have mattered if we had finished 18 th.

  2. Of course VAR is needed, it stops the cheating and all this talk about the time it takes is a nonsense as players going down injured in order to stop play and stay down for an inordanate amount of time take up even more time than a descision takes.
    I didn’t notice much joistling in the penalty areas at corners, did you, thats a positive in intself and to say that if it was available last season and we would only have got up to ninith is inaccurate as I watched every game and calculated that we lost 12 pts overall, that would have seen us in Europe.

    • They did a VAR assistedPL table John and when all decisions for all teams were taken into account we would have finished 4th, yes that’s difficult to believe right but according to the experts that’s we would have been in CL this season.

  3. Over the course of the season VAR will benefit us by 15+ points based on the last few seasons. It might take 2-3 seasons to perfect it but it should break up monopolies and we shouldn’t see teams like Liverpool and City scoring 100 or so points as they will have lots of goals taken away and more given against them. Agree about the muted goal celebrations but let’s see how we go 😀

  4. If we’d had VAR in Payets first season we would’ve got top 4 and gone further in the FA cup

  5. VAR had to happen eventually . Loads & Loads of poor decisions over the years made it necessary . We shall just have to get used to it . But having said that I think being judged offside by a arm or a ear is very stupid and against the spirit of the game . VAR should be limited to feet and legs / torsos . If it gets out of control it will ruin the game completely. .

  6. I agree Sean, but as somebody watching on TV, I can tell you it left me feeling just as flat as you in the stadium. To rule Sterling’s goal offside despite it being debatable even after a freeze frame and two 3D lines is unnecessarily anal and not ‘clear and obvious’. The penalty retake again was needless and these are the small inaccuracies that allow the game to flow and remain exciting.

    For me, unless it’s stripped right back and used sparingly, it will only damage the game.

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