Dermot Gallgher: "We have to remember that they have already said VAR will take a few years to get it right, it will take time and there could be a few bumps in the road - this may be one of the biggest bumps."
Monday 30 December 2019 18:56, UK
After another eventful weekend for VAR, Dermot Gallagher returns with Ref Watch to give his verdict on all the key decisions.
Half of the 10 Premier League games over the weekend saw goals disallowed for marginal offside decisions, with teams, fans and pundits calling for a review of the protocol.
Speaking on Ref Watch on Sky Sports News, former Premier League referee Gallagher said: "We know that the system is not 100 per cent, nothing ever is, but the system is the best available to the operative to see at what point the ball was played and at what point the player starts his run.
"We've gone from 2D flat images last year to 3D, which has made it better, and the operatives have worked hard to get the calibration absolutely as precise as possible. With the system as it is, there's no better system anywhere in the world. What you would say is that all 20 teams signed up for that at the start of the season so they know and every team is playing to the same system
"It may be that when IFAB [International Football Association Board] have their meeting in February or March, they could tweak something because they take notice of what people say and the Premier League do the same.
"We have to remember that they have already said it will take a few years to get it right, it will take time and there could be a few bumps in the road - this may be one of the biggest bumps. But it's not going to be the same product for the entirety, it will be an ongoing thing and people will cascade ideas down."
Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock added: "I think it's spoiling it for everyone. A lot of people are talking about VAR every single week and it was meant to clear up the talking points, but it's actually created more. I'm really not a fan of it and we are getting to the point where we are going to the millimetre. I know you have to to a certain degree when we talk about the ball going over the line, but the offside rule has become really silly now and something that we need to look at."
INCIDENT: Sadio Mane scored the opening goal for Liverpool in the 42nd minute, but it was instantly ruled out by referee Anthony Taylor for handball against Adam Lallana in the build-up. However, VAR approved the goal after judging the ball had hit Lallana on the shoulder and Liverpool took a 1-0 lead.
There were also questions about a handball from Virgil Van Dijk before he played the pass to Lallana, but Stockley Park judged there was not enough evidence to rule out the goal. VAR also looked at when Taylor blew his whistle, but it had gone after the ball went over the line.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "It's a great example of VAR because Taylor clearly sees that Van Dijk does not handle the ball and he has the best view. With Lallana, what Taylor does cleverly is allows play to go on and the move to finish because by doing that, VAR can the check the goal and they gave it. Last season, that would have been given as handball.
"The consideration was had the player handled the ball in? Mane didn't. Has it been handled to him? Lallana was a no too. That's the two players who have influenced the move, the scorer or the player who assisted the move so Van Dijk is too far back."
INCIDENT: Not long after, Pedro Neto thought he had scored the equaliser for Wolves but his emphatic celebrations were cut short when VAR ruled out his goal for a marginal offside against Jonny in the build-up. Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo was yellow carded during the review for his reactions to both VAR incidents on the touchline.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "With offside and VAR, there is zero tolerance. The start point is if any point of his body that can score is offside. I can assure you that at Stockley Park, their lines are absolutely precise and if they say he's offside, then he's offside."
INCIDENT: It was another tight offside call at Carrow Road. Norwich were already 1-0 up when Teemu Pukki went through to score a second. However, VAR reviewed it and ruled it out, judging the striker to have been offside.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "It's the stock answer, there's nothing I can say to change your mind. When you see it, it looks like he's onside from the images but when they cut across with the lines, he's just offside. It's fractions.
"Over the weekend, I would suggest that the five offsides measured less than a foot in overall aggregate distance, but we got told that the start point is zero tolerance. Last season, we showed images of offside goals and you have to be careful what you wish for because that's what people wanted and now they've got it, they want to unravel it."
INCIDENT: In the first offside call of the weekend, Dan Burn was denied his first Premier League goal when he was also penalised for the tightest of offsides. He hooked the ball home from an Aaron Mooy free-kick, but as he said after the game, his 'armpit' was judged to be offside by VAR.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "The free-kick is what started that move, and Bournemouth had chances to clear but they didn't. Because Bournemouth don't have a chance to reset as such, they never gain possession of the ball and it's always bobbling about like a pinball machine. Under the opinion of VAR, it was never under their control, they never cleared the ball so therefore Burn was offside for the initial cross."
INCIDENT: Crystal Palace thought they had taken the lead in the 15th minute when Max Meyer swept home from a Wilfried Zaha cross. However, VAR intervened once again and ruled the goal out with Zaha's arm just ahead of the Southampton defender.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "I'm going to sound like a broken record here but he is fractionally offside. People aren't happy about it but that's the start point they have and unless something gives, that will continue to be the start point.
"There's no way an assistant would have been able to see it and not for any of the five goals would any assistant have flagged it for offside. But with that being said, those assistants would not have been able to see that and that's why VAR was bought in because they just couldn't detect it."
INCIDENT: Lys Mousset score for Sheffield United, but VAR soon intervened, with the striker penalised for offside as John Fleck played him in.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "I was watching this game and the minute Fleck played that pass, I thought 'wow, what a ball and what a finish' but it's chalked off. I can understand football supporters being annoyed, but I can't say anything different.
"I have no choice [on if the offside rule is correct or not] because in our body, that's the way it is. Whether I like it or not is immaterial because it's there, those are the ground rules and that's what I have to work to."
INCIDENT: Jorginho was close to being sent off in the 76th minute after pulling back Matteo Guendouzi in midfield. The Chelsea midfielder had already been booked, but referee Craig Pawson did not book him again and he went on to score an 83rd-minute equaliser in a 2-1 win.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Incorrect decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "I was surprised he didn't get sent off. Firstly, I think it's a yellow card offence and secondly, three minutes earlier, there was a carbon copy offence from Lucas Torreira who got a yellow card. In that space of time, the referee gave a decision one way and a similar one the other. It's a yellow card offence for me, Jorginho grabs a hold of his shirt to take Guendouzi away from the ball."
INCIDENT: In a usually feisty game, Nikola Katic was judged to have fouled Christopher Juillen in the area just after the half-hour mark to gift Celtic a penalty. However, Ryan Christie saw his effort saved by Allan McGregor as Rangers went on to win the game 2-1.
DERMOT'S VERDICT: Correct decision.
DERMOT SAYS: "I spoke about a similar incident with Luka Milivojevic last week, and you can see the shirt come out off Jullien's back and Katic grabs a hold of him. I think the Rangers players accepted it was a penalty, that Katic had been spoken to just before and the referee identified it."
