The headlines have been dominated by VAR since it was brought into the Premier League back at the start of last season – with the controversial nature of the technology too much to be ignored by fans and pundits after plenty of high-profile mistakes being made.
This includes the attention of former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher – who stated on Monday Night Football last night that he would ‘go back’ to not having it or using it in a different way, as the technology is clearly creating more problems rather than fixing them…
'If I could go back, I certainly would.'@Carra23 admits he was an 'advocate' of VAR before it was introduced but now believes it is ruining key moments in football matches. ❌
What are your thoughts on VAR in the Premier League? 💭 pic.twitter.com/MBFlwgqDk0
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 30, 2020
Carragher makes a whole host of valuable points in the discussion, namely the way in which VAR is being used at the moment which is a completely different manner to which it is meant to be used. The point of the video assistant referee is that it is used to help fix any clear and obvious mistakes made by the on-field officials throughout the game.
Are you a fan of VAR?
Yes
No
Instead, VAR is being used to decide the most marginal of offsides, the softest of penalty shouts, and anything in between that doesn’t have any merit to be argued against. Carragher states a great example of Scotland’s penalty shoot-out win against Serbia during the international break, with goalkeeper David Marshall unable to celebrate straight away over fears of VAR sticking its nose into his penalty save to take Scotland to the Euro’s next year.
I’m not a fan of VAR at all – the initial thought of it was presented really well and it seemed it could be a great tool to spot those decisions that the referee may miss during the game or incidents that need a second opinion, but instead it has made a mountain out fo a molehill, with more problems being made rather than being fixed.
What do you think Liverpool fans, do you agree with Jamie Carragher? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below…