VAR, Refs and Linesmen | General Discussion

So they’ve just stopped letting tight offsides develop, have they? Every fecking time there’s been a tight call tonight the whistle’s gone. Including at least one obviously incorrect decision. Load of bollox.
Innit happened a few times for both teams, what is going on?
 
I'm a rational person but honestly the refereeing decisions recently again are changing my mind. I don't remember a game over the course of which the refereeing decisions have gone our way or even balanced. Even today every 50/50 went Chelsea's way and that pen is a pen but again we see that so often not given and just explained away as a tussle.
 
Stoppage time goal with an elongated celebration, blows dead-on the allotted 6 minutes.

Also, it's probably a penalty, but the problem is it rarely is a penalty any other time. That should be the standard, but you know it won't be. It was still totally embellished with a ridiculous dive.

And there were two offsides, Bruno and Sterling (I think), which were incorrectly flagged. I thought tight calls were supposed to be allowed to play on?
 
It was a stone wall penalty. He had both arms wrapped round him. it was idiotic play from Mctominay
You can’t call that penalty and let similiar situations in same game pass by without anything. If you give that you need to give few more today.
 
Yeah maybe it was a pen. But before that broja is pushing mctominay and while he is running he hits scott in the face. If mctominay would have fallen to the ground I bet the ref wouldnt give a foul. So how is it a foul from mctominay when he gets fouled and pushed first. Just because he doesnt fall to the ground like he has been shot like broja did
 
It's definitely a pen, no question. Players hold all the time but just long enough to stop the opposing player's momentum. Scott has a habit of holding on for too long.
 
Definitely a pen. Fecking fuming about the incorrect offside though.

Me too. For reasons presumably known only to Mike Riley, they've decided that wide offsides aren't important enough for VAR so they're back to having a guess, even if you're in a great goalscoring position two seconds later like we were. It's absolutely braindead. Every rule change/practice change/change of interpretation they make makes things worse. There was one of these in the Forest/Liverpool game earlier as well.

I'm properly fecked off with that and I think only Casemiro's neck muscles have stopped me from putting something through the TV.
 
Because most players give a wee tug and let go, they don't normally bear hug for a few steps
I gotta disagree. It happens every game. Problem is it probably is a pen if it’s given but they’re never given for a reason. The ref has to want to give it which he was happy to do all game
 
I gotta disagree. It happens every game. Problem is it probably is a pen if it’s given but they’re never given for a reason. The ref has to want to give it which he was happy to do all game
I'd be furious if we didn't get that. That's how I look at it.
 
When you wrap your arms around a player like that it should always be a penalty. The problem is all the times it isn't given, not that it was here.
 
You can’t call that penalty and let similiar situations in same game pass by without anything. If you give that you need to give few more today.

I don't think there was anything in the game that was as egregious as that was from McT though?

But yeah, it was clearly a pen
 
He even put two hands on his back just before he hit the ground for good measure
 
I’d have no problem with that being given but it happens in every game up and down the country and is never given. There’s no consistency.
 
Definitely a pen. Fecking fuming about the incorrect offside though.

Is this the one where the ref blew the play down the wing dead and then it showed Bruno (I think?) was actually onside? Was weird that, they usually allow the play to go one and let VAR deal with it.
 
Is this the one where the ref blew the play down the wing dead and then it showed Bruno (I think?) was actually onside? Was weird that, they usually allow the play to go one and let VAR deal with it.
The lino flagged like he was 10m off. He was through with no one neat him at the side of the box. Great goal scoring chance. Shocking decision
 
Is this the one where the ref blew the play down the wing dead and then it showed Bruno (I think?) was actually onside? Was weird that, they usually allow the play to go one and let VAR deal with it.

There's been a directive change to go back to having a fecking guess for offsides on the wings. It's pants-on-head moronic.
 
I thought on the whole United got the worst of it when it came to the officiating, but the actual penalty was the right call.
 
I don't think there was anything in the game that was as egregious as that was from McT though?

But yeah, it was clearly a pen
Borja is big guy and when he falls, it shows. It gets attention. Watch how the shirtpulling or halfwrestling is done by other guys at corners. Why is McTominay more foul? The ball wasn’t even there.
 
Chelsea engineered the penalty. They were pushing Mctom around before the penalty and then the Chelsea player was diving from the moment he moved
Yes. You can actually see the attacker pushing McTominay in the face right before the dive. The psychology being, that McTominay wouldn't let him go but couldn't see him so he stretched his arms out, that's when he fell. Right before that construction, they both held each other, even a hand to the face which definitely isn't allowed.

Why wouldn't VAR review it and look for something to overturn it, like the hand in the face just a moment before. If McTominay went to ground holding his face, it just wouldn't be a foul. The precedence they are setting is terrible for the game as cheating is beneficial.

It's like a touch is enough to get a penalty, put when we get fouled and nothing gets given I constantly hear excuses from people commenting like "soft" and 'shoulder to shoulder', 'wasn't enough in it', 'he went looking for it'. Yet now it's totally the other way around, they have excuses for why it should be given. 'McTominay is clumsy or stupid doing that'. I remember they did my boy De Gea dirty a few seasons back, totally crowded him and pushed him around and refs and media just decided he was weak so it's okey.:lol: No, it's a fecking foul, and this was too because you can't put your hand to the face of a player.
 
Really don't understand why that now we are nearing 2023 and have the goal-line technology long-installed can't track players and do the same with offsides, really shouldn't be that hard with the money pumped into football and advanced technologies.

Then it's just down to human error now which happens quite a lot, at least they should have a strong word with the linsemen to let the game go on, ifit's even very close, can't call bullshite decisions like that.

BTW the same technology should also fix all these annoying half dozne mistakes every game when a throw in or a corner is just called wrong..
 
Both United and Chelsea had a bad offside call
from the linesmen in that game - Sterling in the first half and Bruno in the second. If it's marginal don't put your fecking flag up.
 
Both United and Chelsea had a bad offside call
from the linesmen in that game - Sterling in the first half and Bruno in the second. If it's marginal don't put your fecking flag up.
To be fair Sterling made his mind up for him. He just stopped as if he were miles off. It was a strange moment
 
Really don't understand why that now we are nearing 2023 and have the goal-line technology long-installed can't track players and do the same with offsides, really shouldn't be that hard with the money pumped into football and advanced technologies.

Then it's just down to human error now which happens quite a lot, at least they should have a strong word with the linsemen to let the game go on, ifit's even very close, can't call bullshite decisions like that.

BTW the same technology should also fix all these annoying half dozne mistakes every game when a throw in or a corner is just called wrong..

I mean you're describing semi-automated offsides which they are using in the CL and will use it at the World Cup too. PL will surely start using it next season.
 
To be fair Sterling made his mind up for him. He just stopped as if he were miles off. It was a strange moment
I assume the lino put his flag up immediately and it took a few seconds from that and the ref blowing it dead. Doesn't make sense otherwise.
 
Was never going to over turn the Chelsea pen but don’t think they would have intervened if the ref didn’t give it in the first place either. It’s one of the main problems with var and trying to be consistent
 
Has there actually?

Yeah. Can't find a better source than the fecking Express, but it has been mentioned several times on commentary. It's in a bid to reduce the number of late flags for alleged "obvious" offsides or ones that don't look like immediate goalscoring chances. In practice they've been doing it for play on the wing, and of course, getting half of them wrong.

It has been a source of widespread irritation to players, managers and fans since it was introduced two seasons ago. However assistant referees have been instructed to act more decisively in a bid to reduce the number of instances of play being allowed to continue only for what looked an obvious a flag to go up seconds later.

The new directive will see the assistants only delay in cases when there is both a clear goalscoring opportunity and the call is a tight one. If a chance of a goal is not obvious - say play is headed out to the wings - or the assistant feels sure of the offside call they will flag immediately this season.
https://www.express.co.uk/sport/foo...nges-offside-flag-referee-multi-ball-injuries
 
Yes. You can actually see the attacker pushing McTominay in the face right before the dive. The psychology being, that McTominay wouldn't let him go but couldn't see him so he stretched his arms out, that's when he fell. Right before that construction, they both held each other, even a hand to the face which definitely isn't allowed.

Why wouldn't VAR review it and look for something to overturn it, like the hand in the face just a moment before. If McTominay went to ground holding his face, it just wouldn't be a foul. The precedence they are setting is terrible for the game as cheating is beneficial.

It's like a touch is enough to get a penalty, put when we get fouled and nothing gets given I constantly hear excuses from people commenting like "soft" and 'shoulder to shoulder', 'wasn't enough in it', 'he went looking for it'. Yet now it's totally the other way around, they have excuses for why it should be given. 'McTominay is clumsy or stupid doing that'. I remember they did my boy De Gea dirty a few seasons back, totally crowded him and pushed him around and refs and media just decided he was weak so it's okey.:lol: No, it's a fecking foul, and this was too because you can't put your hand to the face of a player.
I remember the Lindelof one where someone grabbed his face and pulled him back to win a header, and that was okay :lol:
 
Poor ref who was clearly influenced by the crowd. It was a clear pen but I was more irritated by the number of fouls he didn't give us and let chelsea momentum build in the second half. Twice Rashford was fouled but he didnt give anything which led to a chelsea attack
 
My biggest gripe is how he managed the added on time. Varane was down for about four minutes, we scored in extra time. To blow on 6 minutes on the dot, just as we were building an attack was a joke.
 
My biggest gripe is how he managed the added on time. Varane was down for about four minutes, we scored in extra time. To blow on 6 minutes on the dot, just as we were building an attack was a joke.

I honestly think refs are a bit scared sometimes and want the game to be over.

The on pitch ref should have no say in timekeeping as far as I'm concerned.
 
Appears to be a delayed reaction to all the comments about needing to blow for offside instead of letting the play go on needlessly at times but tonight these were two tight calls for both teams with early wrong flags that the ref stopped the game for. The refs are so poor.

The linesman for Bruno was especially odd as the player closest to the linesman was playing Bruno on side by a yard and the ref took his flag as gospel as if Bruno was yards offside.
 
I don't understand how Stamford Bridge has about the least intimidating crowd on the planet, but refs always seem to blow everything their way when they play at home.
 
That penalty City got late in the 1st half v Brighton was a terrible call imo.
Silva stuck his leg out looking for contact. There was little the Brighton defender could do.
I can’t believe the ref and the VAR guy got conned.