I NEVER realised how many high profile pundits who have the privilege of commentating on the beautiful game were living in the past until recently.
When VAR was used at the last world cup I wrote a Fair Point saying football had to modernise and it should be something to be embraced.
Everyone knew it would be a work in progress when it first came into the Premier League. No matter how much behind the scenes testing went on they were never going to be able to properly see it in action until the “real ball” came out.
READ MORE: VAR has been a big success, the dinosaur pundits are all clueless
So far this season VAR has been used in 100 Premier League matches with 26 decisions overturned. Yes, at this point it is far from perfect - but scrapping it and wanting to go back, as pundits like former England midfielder Danny Murphy have called for, is just stupid.
Decisions in the spotlight have included Brighton’s controversial penalty award and Arsenal having a late winner ruled out on Sunday - which yes were both wrong. But focusing just on bad decisions is overlooking that, for the majority of time, correct ones are being made.
I get the feeling a lot of the current backlash is being led by fans on the wrong end of decisions. They should remember that at some point they will get a good one. What if their team wins a trophy or England win the final of the European Championships next year thanks to a VAR decision?
That's not to say some things need to change, for example it is wrong fans are clueless in the stadium. Discussions between the on pitch referee and VAR officials should be on the stadium tannoy with images on the screen to help with this, a system that works well in rugby and cricket.
I also think there is too much messing around. For instance, there are obvious off side decisions which after the first replay everyone knows are onside or not. Having to watch multiple replays is wasting everyone's time.
READ MORE: Clubs could seek increased use of VAR monitors
In terms of poor decisions I can't help thinking many of them are simply less experienced VAR officials making wrong calls, than the technology itself. Once these things have been ironed out, everyone is used to it and it can only get better.
And as for those saying they can't celebrate goals properly anymore, if its a legal goal you in fact get to celebrate twice - when its scored and when its given.
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