De Ligt, Ings and the need for specialist VARs
1. The Specials. The time has come for specialist VARs. Yesterday’s injustice at the London Stadium highlighted that. The VAR Michael Oliver advised the referee David Coote to go to the monitor and review the challenge by Matthijs de Ligt, the Manchester United defender, on West Ham’s Danny Ings. The Premier League attempted to explain matters. “The referee did not award a penalty to West Ham for a challenge by De Ligt on Ings. The VAR deemed there was sufficient contact on Ings' lower leg and recommended an on-field review. The referee overturned his original decision and awarded a penalty." Coote should have had more belief in himself and his original judgement because it wasn’t a penalty, and certainly not a clear and obvious error. Whatever happened to referee’s call? Whatever happened to Howard Webb’s light-touch refereeing. Coote bowed to Oliver’s advice. Oliver is probably the most respected official in the country, hugely admired and looked up to by his peers, and there was immediate debate amongst United fans that Coote may have been influenced by the pecking order.
There can be many other avenues to criticise United’s besieged manager, Erik ten Hag, especially over the lack of belief, organisation and identity in his team, and how much finishing practice do his strikers actually do. But there has to be sympathy with Ten Hag over the change of events that led to the penalty and the defeat. Oliver is an outstanding referee, and Webb will doubtless back him up in his occasional review show. Oliver should be out in the middle doing games or resting not locked up at Stockley Park on VAR duty. The game needs - and certainly can afford - specialist VARs, focused solely on detail, not bringing their reputation into the decision-making process, however unintentionally.
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2.Reading the bulletins on Arsenal felt like dipping into The Lancet, the esteemed medical publication. Liverpool were also missing players injured. Against Arsenal, Liverpool were without their first-choice goalkeeper Alisson, probably one of the top five in the world, and their best goalscoring centre-forward in Diogo Jota. The focus was inevitably on Arsenal’s defensive absentees and injuries mid game but Liverpool got on with it. Sometimes talking about injuries so much can affect the mentality.
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3.No travesty in keeping faith with Travers. Mark Travers excelled for Bournemouth against Aston Villa. He saved shots from Youri Tielemans, Esri Konsa, Pau Torres and Jhon Duran and headers from Ollie Watkins twice and Amadou Onana. He was also positive going for crosses. Kepa Arrizabalaga, loaned from Chelsea, is probably Andoni Iraola’s No 1 but following Travers’ magnificent seven saves against Villa, he certainly deserves another shot. He’ll probably save it.
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4.No conspiracy. Arsenal fans were railing at Anthony Taylor for blowing up for what didn’t even look like a foul by Jakub Kiwior on Dominik Szoboszlai. It was a poor decision by Taylor. Talking to Arsenal fans coming out of the Emirates, I found myself defending Taylor’s integrity. He’s a good ref, and totally honest. PGMOL issued a statement about the incident when really it needed an official to front up post-match to the TV cameras, give short explanations about the main decisions so mainstream and social media are informed, and defend Taylor. At least an official standing up and delivering the referee’s side of things would bring some detail and balance to the debate. Officials talking post-match will come in one day. Audio between officials will be played live one day when IFAB remembers the game belongs to fans One day the game will grow up, referees will be better supported by their overlords and the conspiracy theorists will have their rants ended by facts. One day. Probably not soon, though.
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5.Divine Monk. Cambridge end the blues. What a week. Garry Monk’s side defeated Wigan Athletic, Stevenage Borough and now Burton Albion, didn’t concede a goal, have taken nine points after one point from 27 and been rewarded for sticking with Garry Monk. His changes worked against struggling Burton, his subs made a difference, and then tweaking Emmanuel Longelo’s positioning, giving the left wing-back more attacking responsibilities and fewer defensive duties. Cambridge won with a late goal. Next League One challenge? Peterborough United away, all-ticket affair, Cambridge quickly sold out their 1,664 allocation. It will be loud and feisty.
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6.Semi-automated offside. Please bring it in soon. A couple of long VAR delays at the weekend were frustrating, slowing the wonderful flow that adds to the Premier League’s appeal. Semi-automated speeds up the process.
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7.Acclaim the academies. This is League Cup week when more understudies step from the wings and take centre stage. Some may fail to seize the moment. Others will start a journey that leads towards regular inclusion. Academies are vital for the atmosphere of teams, for the bond with fans, for the good of PSR and England. Look at Bukayo Saka and Ethan Nwaneri at Arsenal, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones at Liverpool, Mikey Moore at Spurs, Phil Foden and Rico Lewis at City and plenty of others. Another gem may sparkle this week.
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8.Cole Palmer. He’s only 22. Chelsea’s playmaker has the mind of an experienced pro with his mature decision-making. He has the vision of a chess grandmaster, seeing moves in advance, spotting the potential of Pedro Neto’s position and having the technique to find him with a 60-yard pass. Palmer’s nerveless finishing tend to take the plaudits but his passing is similarly good.
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9s are back in fashion. Chris Wood struck for Nottingham Forest, Erling Haaland for Manchester City, Beto for Everton, Danny Welbeck and Evan Ferguson for Brighton & Hove Albion, Liam Delap for Ipswich Town and Evanilson for Bournemouth. Just after a slew of statistical analysis suggesting the No 9 was being written out of the modern footballing narrative, and that the No 10 and wide strikers dominated, the centre-forwards storm back to claim centre stage. Even Darwin Nunez is getting tap-ins. Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dom Solanke put in tireless shifts upfront, holding the ball, being a target, battling with centre-backs. Ollie Watkins is a different type of central attacker but so effective. Yoane Wissa too. Arsenal take note.
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10. At most games I cover now, one or two reporters enquire about Substack. Some want a bit more freedom in what they write about. I reply I never had that issue. I never once at the Indy, Telegraph or Times had anybody tell me what to write or change anything in my copy beyond tidy up my speling. So I just tell people about the obvious positive about Substack and that’s the community. I learn from the replies, for when I’ve misread a situation or issue in the game, or simply drawing on the knowledge of those closer to a club. For instance, I wrote a post about QPR, the lack of cameraphones and the pure joy in celebrating a goal. Somebody replied, mentioning an important point I’d missed, namely no VAR in the EFL, so I updated the post and made a mental note. Every day’s a learning day on Substack, and in a good way. Enjoy the week.
Re your last point, I think people underestimate how much VAR is/will change the match going fans enjoyment of the game. Yesterday at the Bridge I did not celebrate our first goal in fear of a late VAR call - and was glad I didn't when it was chalked off and the Geordie's rubbed our noses in it. Football cannot lose the instantaneous reaction to your team scoring. For me any benefits from VAR are outweighed by this huge cost.
Loved seeing ‘speling’. A nice touch.