Refs & VAR 2020/2021 Discussion

I thought when Martial went down he was clipped by one of the two defenders, not the one the commentators mentioned. Didn't see the replays though so it could have been a dive.
There was a slight touch but so little that the dive was deemed unnecessary.
 
My understanding of VAR...
  1. VAR isn't allowed to over turn free kicks, only whether there should be a red card or not, and if there should be a pen or not. So the only 2 options there should have been a United free kick with a Brady red card, or a United free kick with no Brady red if Shaw was deemed to have fouled the guy/Brady's wasn't a red. Either way, Shaw's challenge was not a foul, so it should've been a red.
  2. Never a foul in any area of the pitch. Absolute scandal to disallow that.
 
Baffles me that they need three minutes and send the ref over to look at a tackle that could only ever be a yellow and a free kick but no need to see whether it was actually a foul on the goal. Never seen VAR being used to give free kicks before either.
 
My understanding of VAR...
  1. VAR isn't allowed to over turn free kicks, only whether there should be a red card or not, and if there should be a pen or not. So the only 2 options there should have been a United free kick with a Brady red card, or a United free kick with no Brady red if Shaw was deemed to have fouled the guy/Brady's wasn't a red. Either way, Shaw's challenge was not a foul, so it should've been a red.
  2. Never a foul in any area of the pitch. Absolute scandal to disallow that.

They can check the buildup to the red card, which they did and, unfortunately for us, Shaw's challenge is a yellow card tackle any day of the week.
 
Shaw's was investigated as a possible red card so I assume that's how they were able to check it. It was a clear foul (though not a red) and I think the referee handled a complex situation well.

The Maguire foul was a total joke.
 
They can check the buildup to the red card, which they did and, unfortunately for us, Shaw's challenge is a yellow card tackle any day of the week.
OK but you can't overturn a free kick, and no red card was given. If he gave a red, then you can change. A yellow was given. They can't over turn. The only check is if it should be a red card (with build up included), but not the actual free kick/yellow card because no pen or red card was given.

There's an argument that if Shaw did a red card tackle that would take precedence. But it's never in a million years anything more than a foul, and IMO not even a foul (but that's irrelevant). If it's not a red, then they can't call it back as a foul.
 
I presume there's no chance of VAR fecking off?

It hasn't removed ambiguity from decisions, or even made decisions better. It's just made it even more frustrating when an obvious decision goes against you.
 
Without getting into the specifics of what went on there I would like to put forward the idea that VAR is a load of steaming piss that ruined those 45 minutes as a piece of entertainment and left a far worse taste in the mouth than any poor refereeing performance pre-VAR.

Re the specifics, Maguire didn’t foul his man. Obviously. That was a terrible decision, reviewed by VAR and not corrected.

You had one job, VAR...
 
OK but you can't overturn a free kick, and no red card was given. If he gave a red, then you can change. A yellow was given. They can't over turn. The only check is if it should be a red card (with build up included), but not the actual free kick/yellow card because no pen or red card was given.

There's an argument that if Shaw did a red card tackle that would take precedence. But it's never in a million years anything more than a foul, and IMO not even a foul (but that's irrelevant). If it's not a red, then they can't call it back as a foul.

I think the problem is that they've decided it is a clear and obvious error and Brady should be sent off. Once that decision is made, they check the build up and there's the foul.

It's a stupid area of inconsistency, if they hadn't have checked it it would have been a booking and our free kick, but they end up with the right decision.
 
The refs either blind or a cheat, maybe both. Bloody scandalous decisions throughout the entire half!
Dyche still yapping even though every decision has gone their way. Crazy man!!
Rashford, wake up for f#ck sake, there's a match on!
 
OK but you can't overturn a free kick, and no red card was given. If he gave a red, then you can change. A yellow was given. They can't over turn. The only check is if it should be a red card (with build up included), but not the actual free kick/yellow card because no pen or red card was given.

There's an argument that if Shaw did a red card tackle that would take precedence. But it's never in a million years anything more than a foul, and IMO not even a foul (but that's irrelevant). If it's not a red, then they can't call it back as a foul.

Here's the process that I think Friend followed:

After seeing both incidents again, he realized that Brady should be sent off for Denial of a Goalscoring Opportunity. Because it is not violent conduct, that presumptive red card can be reviewed to see if anything occurred the build-up that would invalidate the move which led to the goalscoring opportunity that Brady denied. Shaw is adjudged to have committed a foul in the build up, which is awarded along with a yellow card, invalidating any card for Brady.

Edit: @NinjaFletch said the same thing at the same time as I did.
 
Without getting into the specifics of what went on there I would like to put forward the idea that VAR is a load of steaming piss that ruined those 45 minutes as a piece of entertainment and left a far worse taste in the mouth than any poor refereeing performance pre-VAR.

Re the specifics, Maguire didn’t foul his man. Obviously. That was a terrible decision, reviewed by VAR and not corrected.

You had one job, VAR...

How anyone can watch that half and think VAR is a good idea is beyond me.
 
Shaw's was investigated as a possible red card so I assume that's how they were able to check it. It was a clear foul (though not a red) and I think the referee handled a complex situation well.

The Maguire foul was a total joke.
That's pretty much how I see it, although I think they can check for a foul in the build up even if it's not a red card offense. Can't review every yellow card incident on its own though, rightly.
 
Without getting into the specifics of what went on there I would like to put forward the idea that VAR is a load of steaming piss that ruined those 45 minutes as a piece of entertainment and left a far worse taste in the mouth than any poor refereeing performance pre-VAR.

Re the specifics, Maguire didn’t foul his man. Obviously. That was a terrible decision, reviewed by VAR and not corrected.

You had one job, VAR...
Also this. Still amazes me how anyone can feel football has been improved by this.
 
Still not sure about the Shaw/Brady ordeal. I didn't think VAR gave free kicks for fouls in the build up to a VAR reviewed incident. I also thought the only card that could be given from a VAR was a red. I've not seen a decision reversed and a booking given the other way before. But Shaw plays the ball, the follow through looks bad if you freeze it on Shaw's foot looking like he makes studs-up contact, but he actually doesn't, it goes behind the Burnley player's leg. But VAR froze it on that more than once.

Maguire's goal was a joke decision though. Commentator said VAR looked at it, but it was very quick. The defender didn't even go for the header, does that mean Maguire isn't allowed to either?
 
The Maguire goal is baffling. That is a textbook header.

How is an guy like him supposed to win a header in a packed box without getting physical with a defender? It is impossible.
 
What’s being ignored in this is that Brady got away with a knee high tackle with no yellow card. If Shaw’s a booking so is that.
 
I don’t think VAR was the issue there. In Shaw’s case they arrived at the right conclusion; it was just a mind-bender getting there.

The Maguire decision is also impossible to overturn given the role VAR currently plays. There is contact and therefore it isn’t a clear and obvious error by the book. Obviously, it is an error by the common sense rule book we expect referees to follow: a frankly terrible decision by Friend. Awful refereeing.
 
I presume it’s sliding doors bullshit, where that timeline never happened once Shaw conceded the free. A bit like when Van Dijk got his knee wrecked.
Yeah, that’s a joke though. They’re sitting on Sky talking about how lucky Shaw and how bad a tackle it is but Brady’s tackle wasn’t just denying a goal scoring opportunity, it was high and reckless with no intent of getting the ball.
 
I presume it’s sliding doors bullshit, where that timeline never happened once Shaw conceded the free. A bit like when Van Dijk got his knee wrecked.
Amazing considering every ref knows reckless tackles can still be given as a red if the game has stopped
 
I don’t think VAR was the issue there. In Shaw’s case they arrived at the right conclusion; it was just a mind-bender getting there.

The Maguire decision is also impossible to overturn given the role VAR currently plays. There is contact and therefore it isn’t a clear and obvious error by the book. Obviously, is an error by the normal rule bookc and a terrible decision by Friend. Awful refereeing.

What book is this? Since when do two players brushing against each other jumping for a header remove the possibility of a bad refereeing error?
 
What a joke! Shaw gets plenty of the ball and then Cavani doesn't even get the freekick up the other end, never mind the red :lol:

Now Redknapp is acting like Shaw should have been sent off
 
I think the problem is that they've decided it is a clear and obvious error and Brady should be sent off. Once that decision is made, they check the build up and there's the foul.

It's a stupid area of inconsistency, if they hadn't have checked it it would have been a booking and our free kick, but they end up with the right decision.
That's fine to think it should be a red and do a check. They can't end up changing a free kick and yellow to another free kick and yellow though, that's the point. There are 3 options for VAR to conclude - a red for Brady with United free kick, a red for Shaw with Burnley free kick, or keep the yellow for Brady with a United free kick. They literally aren't allowed to change it the way they did.
 
Still not sure about the Shaw/Brady ordeal. I didn't think VAR gave free kicks for fouls in the build up to a VAR reviewed incident. I also thought the only card that could be given from a VAR was a red. I've not seen a decision reversed and a booking given the other way before. But Shaw plays the ball, the follow through looks bad if you freeze it on Shaw's foot looking like he makes studs-up contact, but he actually doesn't, it goes behind the Burnley player's leg. But VAR froze it on that more than once.

Maguire's goal was a joke decision though. Commentator said VAR looked at it, but it was very quick. The defender didn't even go for the header, does that mean Maguire isn't allowed to either?
This is an important point and one of the problems with VAR. The slowing and freezing of replays often makes tackles and contacts look more severe than they actually are. Also one of the reasons why so many goals are chalked off due to soft free-kicks.

I maintain that VAR shouldn't be able to freeze the replay. If the naked eye can't make the decision on a slow-motion replay, it's not a clear and obvious error. Simple. Would also give us fewer of those moronic armpit offsides.