Don't see a thread yet for this. After opening weekend, I still feel VAR is not being used optimally in MLS. I saw a couple instances where I felt it should have been used (can't pull them all out of memory right now). Saw a reversed PK call that I still am baffled by. Saw a ref pretending to watch replay (twice) but could tell he didn't and just discussed with the VAR. Discuss...
There were definite issues in Orlando with how long it appeared to take to even decide to go to VAR. Then the first one resulted in what turned out to be a very harsh penalty. The second one was a fair straight red. But how long it took was definitely an issue.
Jair Marrufo had a bizarre play. Ciani was in the box with the ball. M. Farfan slid hard into him missed the ball when Ciani hit the ball back slightly to outside the box. Crushed Ciani, no call. Then as the ball slowly goes to the edge of the box a hard shot is hit toward Farfan as he's getting up and hits his arm outside his body to the right. Two penalties in seconds, no call. Portland carries the ball, get's fouled over midfield and VAR seemingly says nothing, Marrufo doesn't even want to review it. Guzman quick restart with no chance to reviews. Its why its there to take a look a game changing plays but nothing. I wonder if its because LA was already up 2-0. Shouldn't matter though. Bad use of VAR.
And I cannot believe the sport of soccer manged not to see Henry's handling, but what are you going to do?
Accept that referees are imperfect (no matter how many slo-mo angles you give them, btw) and appreciate that the beauty of the game's rhythm is far more important than getting a needle in a haystack of decisions right.
Shockingly, I disagree. There's no reason in this day and age something like Henry's handball should be missed. I will agree that deciding 6 inches of offside might be a bit much to focus on but soccer officiating has to improve with the times. If its not VAR it can be extra refs or something else but its clear that with the increased athleticism and speed in the game 3/4 refs are no longer capable of officiating the game successfully on their own. I mean basketball has a significantly smaller area with less than half the players and 3 refs struggle at times to officiate that game successfully. Why would we expect 3 to be successful in soccer?
I don't want my team losing because the referee screws up. That's far more important than "the beauty of the game's rhythm." It's sports, not performance art.
I would fully support extra refs. And I completely agree that efforts should be made to improve refereeing. Goal line technology has done that wonderfully. But it's absolutely plain as day that VAR is going to utterly ruin this sport as an entertainment product for neutrals, in exchange for vanishingly little benefit of improved referee decision making for participants and partisan fans. That's why I said up above that I find this all hard to believe. It's so obvious that the juice isn't worth the squeeze in soccer.
Just as a sidebar on the Henry thing, I just went back and watched the YouTube again, and there didn't appear to be the referees on the goal line that they've had on occasion. That solves your specific problem completely doesn't it?
I didn't see it that way. None of the angles they showed, did I see the defender "clearly" touch the ball. It sounded like the commentators agreed. This is the game I was talking about where the ref (Geiger) didn't even look at the replay, but pretended to. He ran over to the side and they girl pulled the screen up and then he immediately ran back to the field. You could see the screen and it never even came on. He did this twice.
This. I don't understand the point of VAR if they don't review something like that. The ref had the full ability to hold up the free kick to allow the VAR to review. The commentators were even discussing this was how it was supposed to be handled. I think MLS is handling VAR poorly. i think it has potential, but they way it is being done is providing little benefit IMO.
But does that fall under - goals - penalties - straight red cards - mistaken identity? I believe penalties can only be reviewed after the ref has called one. I may be wrong.
Penalties. Both foul and hand ball were inside box.You are wrong. Uncalled penalty can and should be reviewed. It is obviously easier to review if called but not a necessity.
Wrong. Key is 'potential clear and obvious errors'. VAR should have notified Marrufo that it potentially was a clear and obvious error'. Replays showed that both were. The VAR will be able to alert the head referee to potential clear and obvious errors or serious missed incidents in four game-changing situations: (1) goals, (2) penalty kicks, (3) straight red cards and (4) cases of mistaken identity. These are the only reviewable plays in a match.
This is incorrect. Go watch and read all the leagues info on var. A non call can be reviewed up to the next stoppage. Once the next stoppage has been passed it can no longer be reviewed. I am pretty certain there are already of examples of this happening.
I have my fears over var. An example of why is the NFL. The reviewing of what is a catch and what isn't is ruining the game. Destroying it in a dumpster fire. So much so they are now coming out and officially saying that catches that were over turned by review years ago should have been ruled catches. They are focusing massive amount of energy to fix this issue. All this to say...var will likely create more questions than answers. That is definitely how I feel about it as of now.
The football league that MLS should be emulating in this respect is the Arena Football League. When calls are reviewed in that league, we watch the referee looking at the video screen. We see exactly what he is seeeing, and we hear him asking the truck for various angles. He explains exactly what he is looking for, and also the full reasoning behind the decision that he reaches. In this way, the video review is not "down time"; it's an interesting part of the action. That league sets the standard for how video review should be handled.
NFL and MLS reviews are apples and oranges. The rule was changed a few years ago. That's why the difference. VAR is for clear and obvious. Not borderline confusion like the NFL catch rule. Its never going to be 100% but it should be closer than it is right now. The issue for the NFL is the catch rule itself and not the reviewing of them. The rule is now convoluted, confusing, and contradictory.