VAR – AKA How to Destroy a Football Match

I have supported Leicester as the best of the rest in the Premier League so should be pleased that Wolves could only draw at Burnley.

But like that? They score a wonder goal, taking the ball from one end of the pitch to the other and finishing with a volley you only usually see in your dreams.

Burnley send the ball into the box late into injury time and somehow are awarded a penalty with VAR playing a crucial role in the decision.

That should never be a penalty in a million years. Wood has attempted an overhead kick and withdrawn at the very last moment. As a defender you are in a position where you are in danger of getting your head kicked, so it is dangerous play whether he makes contact or not. This is not about intent on Wood’s part. He was attempting to get a shot off from that position but looks as though he withdrew at the point where he considered it would be dangerous to follow through.

Doherty, the defender didn’t have the luxury of knowing what Wood was about to do and is clearly protecting himself in that situation. There is no intent to play the ball with his arm.

If somebody can justify that as a penalty via the rules, then the rules are a farce. VAR has got lost up its own backside. Get a bit of technology and this is what happens.

Perhaps I’m being harsh. After all, VAR is what keeps me watching Match Of The Day, just to see what crazy decisions they come up with. The football has become secondary.

What the introduction of VAR has done is to highlight the shear complexity of football, something I never previously imagined I’d be saying. Even with the assistance of technology there are regular differences of opinion and VAR does little to alter that when it comes to some of the penalty decisions.

As soon as a goal is scored VAR will step into action, dissecting the build-up play and searching for a reason to disallow a goal. By default, that is what it’s going to do. Fans can no longer comfortably celebrate a goal. They must wait. I was at the League 1 play-off final between Charlton and Sunderland when Charlton scored a late winner. It wasn’t going to be reviewed by VAR and the euphoria of seeing that ball go in wasn’t going to be tempered by waiting for a VAR judgement.