Var is not the problem in the Premier League but the incompetent referees!

By CHRISTOS SOTIRAKOPOULOS 

There has been a huge talking point  across the campaign  so far thar the mistakes from the referees are becoming more often! The unbelievable thing is that PGMOL already starting from the very first weekend of the season, when Man United met Wolves at Old  Trafford issued an   apology  for the human errors occurring to  wrong decisions. But, of course, last season hasn’t been without its controversies as well and we should have suspected that the incompetence of some referees will lead to even more controversial decisions this time around! 

Once again VAR and the overall standard of refereeing has come under fire at various points across last  season due to mistakes, or perceived errors — indeed every team will have felt aggrieved with at least one decision. 

 PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) have offered an apology for an error to some while news quickly breaks when they come to pass, They’re not always immediate either, with a couple of teams having to wait months for an admission of wrongdoing! 

So let’s see how  many times have PGMOL admitted they’ve got a decision wrong last  season? 

One case was Spurs versus Chelsea that there was no PGMOL apology for this in a sense, VAR Mike Dean did come out to admit he got the decision wrong and apologised himself. In the final minutes of the London derby at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were leading 2-1 and Tottenham had a corner. As the ball came in, Cristian Romero pulled Marc Cucurella’s hair inside the box as Eric Dier saw his header tipped over for another corner by Edouard Mendy. VAR Dean looked at the incident but did not deem it a red card offence! Tottenham later equalized 2-2. 

After early action at Selhurst Park, which saw both Aston Villa and Wilfried Zaha score inside the opening 10 minutes, Marc Guehi had a header saved by Emiliano Martinez and play was continuing while Joachim Andersen appealed for a penalty (which the referee wasn’t giving). But a review by VAR gave a penalty that was awarded for handball on Lucas Digne, as the ball brushed his arm before reaching Martinez. Zaha did miss the penalty but scored on the rebound. , 

That game was included in a list of six incorrect overturns by VAR in the first part of the season, with the ball hitting Digne from close range! 

Another incident was in a London derby at Stamford Bridge, this time favouring Chelsea. The Blues were leading West Ham 2-1 having come from behind but the Hammers looked to have equalised late. The goal, scored by Maxwel Cornet, was awarded on the pitch but it was eventually ruled out for a foul by Jarrod Bowen on Mendy. At the time fans weren’t happy with the decision, as there was minimal contact by Bowen on Mendy and actually caused the Premier League to ask PGMOL to explain the decisions.

In another decision which led to the Premier League asking PGMOL for an explanation, Newcastle had a goal disallowed in their 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace. Coming from a deep Kieran Trippier free-kick into the box, Newcastle had the ball in the back of the net via the head of Crystal Palace’s  Tyrick Mitchell. However, VAR decided to rule it out for a foul on Guaita wrongly! 

Where is in the controversy in the Manchester United versus Arsenal game last September. There In the early stages of this clash at Old Trafford, Gabriel Martinelli thought he had given Arsenal the lead after a cool finish! The goal was awarded but, immediately, Bruno Fernandes was appealing for a foul earlier in the build up by Martin Odegaard on Christian Eriksen. After a VAR review, the foul was given and the goal disallowed, but the general consensus was that the “error” by the on-pitch referee Paul Tierney was not clear and obvious! 

Nottingham Forest had to fight for a 2-2 draw with Brentford.  But it could have been a completely different result had the Bees not been awarded a penalty just before half time. Yoane Wissa was the man said to be fouled by Dean Henderson by VAR after Andre Marriner had given a goal kick. However, the penalty was extremely soft and eventually deemed that contact was initiated by Wissa, which would’ve ruled out its awarding – again, not enough to be a clear and obvious error.

At Villa Park happened a very interesting one, as it wasn’t really a VAR error, but a referee one that PGMOL eventually apologised for. Lucas Digne put Aston Villa 2-0 up against Man Utd at Villa Park with a lovely free-kick, but there were some complaints from Eriksen on the distance of the wall from the free-kick, believing it to be more than 10 yards. Anthony Taylor ignored Eriksen’s protests but Man Utd were able to hear the interaction!  Taylor eventually got a talking to and an admission of the error came a month later, but the damage was done.

Brentford were on the positive side of another VAR call in February against Arsenal as Toney equalised in the 74th minute, a goal that would eventually wrap up the point. The goal was given but naturally there was a VAR check for offside against Ethan Pinnock, and there was no clear evidence that he was given the angles, so it couldn’t be ruled out on that. However, there was another offside after that which wasn’t checked, on Christian Norsgaard who sent the ball back across goal to Toney.

When Pinnock got his touch on the ball, Norsgaard was quite clearly offside, but it was completely ignored and the goal stood so instead of an Arsenal win the game ended 1-1. Wolves is another team with a tough time with VAR receiving apologies for decisions in the league and both cups. In the Premier League the apology came after Wolves were denied a penalty when Nick Pope fouled Raul Jimenez in the box, after referee Andy Madley had waved play on. Deemed not a clear and obvious error at the time, at later inspection it was decided that a penalty should have been 

Brighton were not awarded a penalty in their eventual defeat to Tottenham last season which could have turned the tide of the game. In the 70th minute, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg stood on Kaoru Mitoma’s foot inside the box but referee Stuart Atwell waved appeals away and his decision was backed up by VAR. However, Webb reportedly apologised to Brighton for the decision later admitting it should have been a penalty! 

Already this season, it seems like we’re going to have even more apologies the way it goes! And the question is  if VAR is the  problem. The answer is simple and it is a big NO. VAR is the solution but with better referees! Because most of the ones that PGMOL use they’re absolutely clueless!