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Another big VAR controversy in Europe this week, Genoa v Napoli. My question, how did MLS get it right and why aren't more people looking to MLS to learn how to do it?
I can't remember many controversial VAR decisions in MLS. And they don't take 5 minutes to decide an offside, it's either clear and obvious or not. Controversies are more likely to be around the handball rule.
MLS doesn’t have goal line/Hawkeye camera setups in every stadium so they can scrutinize down to the granular. If they did, they would be. Thx, Jay!
It's not usually an issue in Italy. There are bad calls everywhere, but VAR seems to mostly be messed up in the Premier League.
CBS News Baltimore, D.C. United discuss pro soccer teams, new stadium WTOPDC United proposes new soccer stadium, academy project in Baltimore I’ll believe it when I see it. I think the ship has sailed in MD for stadia projects. Awareness of DC United is at an all-time low. People are worried about electricity and gas and don’t want to see the state financing these kinds of projects. I’ll leave it to Baltimore to weigh in on the local implications. Thx, Jay!
So far they've stuck to "clear and obvious". The problem in Europe is that they've gone beyond that and are trying to get every decision "right" down to the granular level. Part of the problem with reffing in the Premier League in general though, is that certain referees have giant egos.
Revs had a bunch of VAR calls go against them in 2023 (most of them justified), but this one stood out: PRO: "Error was made" on New England Revolution no-goal vs. New York Red Bulls MLSsoccer staff Monday, Jul 10, 2023, 04:14 PM
My view on VAR errors is that these are calls that would have been questionable in real time, generally. I don't like goal checks philosophically, but as long as they do what they're going to do quickly, it's not that offensive to me what result they come up with unless there's a pattern to it. If my teams success or failure hinges on one bad ref or VAR call over a 30+ game season, the failure is with the coach and players.
I see the smiley, so I know you aren’t being critical…but if soccer is going to have VAR, I haven’t seen a competition that does it better than MLS. Last season, I started to feel like VAR was sending down reviews which weren’t errors, and even worse, the referees were agreeing. But through the 2024 season, I think MLS’ system and implementation of that system were fantastic.
No idea on the club or where they play, but I like this badge. It's fairly simple, but it's a clean design and looks good.
Similar instance for us in Houston in a derby game, save the fact VAR was not used. When Houston was away to Dallas in 2023, a FK was taken and hit the underside of the crossbar, appeared to cross the full measure of the Dallas goal line. The ref that day hesitated and then just made no call, not even the play on arm gesture. Next was no call from MLS VAR team down to the field to inform the ref to review the possibility of a goal. It is why goal line tech, hawk eye, is the key component to any discussion of refs in soccer needing help.
And they’re all buddies from the same 30-mile area in Greater Manchester, so there’s no willingness to tell each other that they’ve made an incorrect decision.