Two weeks ago, I went to see QPR vs Wrexham at Loftus Road. The ground was packed and raucous. I was with the Welsh boys, I've been a part time Wrexham fan since the mid 1980's, when I worked with a mate from North Wales, who suggested I tag along to watch a match with him and his mates, and a few bevvies and a curry afterwards. Other commitments allowing, I've been to see them once or twice a season most years since. Since they became a Hollywood sensation, I've not been able to get tickets. However one of the Wales boys dropped out, so I got a ticket.
Going to a packed stadium for a game with no VAR was so refreshing. The game had one of the best second halves of football I've seen, with Wrexham taking off two defenders and throwing the kitchen sink at QPR for the last few minutes, turning a 2-1 defecit into a 3-2 victory. The Rangers fans were devastated, the Welsh boys elated. For me, it was an object lesson in why I love football.
Yesterday, I watched Liverpool vs Manchester City from the luxury of my sofa. The game was a Premier League classic. City turned around a 1-0 defecit to win 2-1. There were worldies, great saves, some amazing skill and until the last seconds no one knew who would win. All manner of teams were affected by the outcome. A Liverpool win would almost certainly, hand Arsenal an all but unassailable lead in the title race. It would also put Liverpool right back in the race for a Champions League place. A City win would put them back on Arsenal's tails. They are six points behind, but have to play the Gunners at home.
Liverpool (as always seems to be the case) came out clearly feeling they'd been robbed. Their manager Arne Slot felt City defender Mark Guehi should have been sent off for a foul outside the box. He felt VAR had not been fair, as "anyone who had watched Salah would know he would score". Salah rather undermined this claim, ballooning the resulting free kick over the bar. The truth is that Salah has been out of sorts and spent rather too long throwing himself on the floor and waving his arms around when he didn't get what he wanted. The VAR panel correctly (IMHO) decided that it was not a clear and obvious Red Card. The trouble is that such decisions will always be subjective. I think that if Slot encouraged Salah to stay on his feet rather than diving every time he felt a slight brush from another player, he may get more lucky. But that is by the by. The bottom line is that we all had to wait for a minute or two before VAR decided that the Ref was right and that Ruben Diaz would probably have made a tackle.
However that was not the worst example of VAR madness. That happened at the end of the game. City were 2-1 up. The Liverpool keep Allison had gone forward in a desperate attempt to help Liverpool score an equaliser. The ball broke, City's Cherkie hit the ball towards the goal. Erling Haaland and Dominic Szoboszlai, who had both scored, got in a race. The Liverpool player tried to pull Haaland back, then Haaland did the same. Neither reached the ball, so it crossed the line. There were seconds left. City celebrated the third. Then the dreaded VAR stepped in. The goal was chalked off, and the Liverpool player was sent off. The reason being that because Haaland had fouled Szoboszlai, they had to pull the game back and give City a free kick from outside the box, which meant the Liverpool player went. Both teams were punished. There was no room for common sense at all. Liverpool now have a key player suspended and City have one less goal in a tight title race. As ever, we hear "the rules are the rules".
Football is meant to be a form of entertainment. However these sort of decision destroy all of the drama and excitement. Unlike the Wrexham game, I suspect that despite the game being a classic, both sets of fans would be highly frustrated with VAR. Manchester City have a goal difference of five less than Arsenal. In the event that all other results are the same and CIty win 2 games 1-0 and Arsenal lose two games 1-0, then that goal will send the title to the Emirates. As for Liverpool, Szoboszlai was their best player. If they drop points during his ban, then that could also have a massive effect on the shake up for European places, for what was an incident that didn't change the outcome of what should have happened.
Sticklers for rules and the law will say that VAR got it right. Every football fan on the planet will disagree. Football is a massive business and the customers (the fans) are probably the worst treated customers around. Our views are never listened to. We are just cash cows, our tribal loyalties make us ripe for ripping off. As a Manchester City fan, I've seen us be on the receiving end of both bad and good decisions. I am sure that it balances out eventually.If it was instant, I'd probably tolerate it. What bothers me is the fact that it takes so long. I am sure more players are getting muscle tears etc, as the hanging around means their muscles tighten. In the stadium, you rarely know what has actually happened. We now have referee's explaining the VAR decision, but I wonder if anyone could actually hear through the noise of Anfield.
For the number of times VAR makes a positively good decision, it just isn't worth the disruption to the game. I am sure anyone at the QPR vs Wrexham game with me would agree. As would most people at Anfield yesterday. But we are just the mugs who fund the whole thing. Before VAR came in, there were warnings that it would disrupt the flow of the game. It's beena round a few years now and if anything it is getting worse.
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