Will be interesting to hear the convos between VAR/Oliver.

Oliver must have known that EF was interfering irrespective of whether he touched the ball (no idea how these guys think you are only interfering if you touch the ball) If that was the reason given then IMO Oliver should have the ability to overrule them and make the final call.

all this "being sent to the screen" by the VAR bods is fine however have always felt that maybe the ref should be able to request to take a look at VAR himself as in Rugby if he is ever in the situation that he thinks will help him.

Just think that any final decision on whether a player is interfering should be taken by the actual Match day ref.

VAR relay to Oliver that Harland is onside, therefore only question is was Enzo interfering, Oliver then makes his decision on what he has already seen or has the option of asking to see a replay via the screen.

4 hours ago, All Barco no bite said:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/14/arsenal-pro-ref-sunderland-penalty-meeting-explanation

The audacity after they were handed the title and the terrorism they got away with against us.

100% being done so that refs are scared to give decisions against them in the future.

2 hours ago, Blue Ram said:

Will be interesting to hear the convos between VAR/Oliver.

Oliver must have known that EF was interfering irrespective of whether he touched the ball (no idea how these guys think you are only interfering if you touch the ball) If that was the reason given then IMO Oliver should have the ability to overrule them and make the final call.

all this "being sent to the screen" by the VAR bods is fine however have always felt that maybe the ref should be able to request to take a look at VAR himself as in Rugby if he is ever in the situation that he thinks will help him.

Just think that any final decision on whether a player is interfering should be taken by the actual Match day ref.

VAR relay to Oliver that Harland is onside, therefore only question is was Enzo interfering, Oliver then makes his decision on what he has already seen or has the option of asking to see a replay via the screen.

Totally agree on both points.

I really dislike Michael Oliver's style of officiating; he's way too card-happy for me.

Regarding Foden's red, they (both the ref and VAR) must have missed the initial kick, because for me it was about the same as the retaliation. A good referee would've given both players a yellow and moved on. But Michael, considering how he sees football, should at least have shown both players a red card.

Someone called the initial kick "petulant", which is what I'd call the retaliation too. Bruno is a cheat, so he knows how to make these things count, but you don't kick a player when he's down with the ball nowhere near it.

26 minutes ago, acaeus said:

I really dislike Michael Oliver's style of officiating; he's way too card-happy for me.

Regarding Foden's red, they (both the ref and VAR) must have missed the initial kick, because for me it was about the same as the retaliation. A good referee would've given both players a yellow and moved on. But Michael, considering how he sees football, should at least have shown both players a red card.

Someone called the initial kick "petulant", which is what I'd call the retaliation too. Bruno is a cheat, so he knows how to make these things count, but you don't kick a player when he's down with the ball nowhere near it.

It's alright, Foden will be a vodka millionaire within a few years:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/eden-hazard-chelsea-ballboy-millionaire-36674140

(Definitely a red by the way, you can't stud somebody in the stomach/crotch and it not be violent conduct)

57 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

It's alright, Foden will be a vodka millionaire within a few years:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/eden-hazard-chelsea-ballboy-millionaire-36674140

(Definitely a red by the way, you can't stud somebody in the stomach/crotch and it not be violent conduct)

lol I think he's covered already.

Heh players get kicked — semi-intentionally all the time in competitive football. Still, while not my take, it's fine as long as the same criteria are applied to both players.

Honestly, for me Bruno's kick was absolutely intentional aggression—Foden gets kicked in the back/waist while he's on the ground—which actually initiated the whole thing. From the chatter, it seems they all missed the initial kick though.

Either way, I cannot really think much about the offside decision given 👆. City played with 10-men for 70min+.

We seem to be having the same debates we’ve always had as football fans when it comes to decisions, VAR for me has changed none of that which was what it was brought in to do.

If anything letting them watch it over and over again is even more galling for the team on the wrong end where as if it’s done in real time you used to except the ref didn’t see it.

All VAR has done is take some of the spontaneous enjoyment out of the moment, especially the main moment.. scoring goals and celebrating them.

f**king hate VAR never wanted it don’t want it now.

I'm so glad many more people are coming around.

VAR, DRS, The Bunker... whatever you dress it up as, video refereeing is a disaster for sport

Keep the goal line tech but that's it for me.

10 hours ago, C3blue said:

We seem to be having the same debates we’ve always had as football fans when it comes to decisions, VAR for me has changed none of that which was what it was brought in to do.

If anything letting them watch it over and over again is even more galling for the team on the wrong end where as if it’s done in real time you used to except the ref didn’t see it.

All VAR has done is take some of the spontaneous enjoyment out of the moment, especially the main moment.. scoring goals and celebrating them.

f**king hate VAR never wanted it don’t want it now.

What annoys me the most about is they are now changing rules to suit VAR, which surely goes against the entire point of it. It was brought in to assist refs with those 2-3% of decisions that were borderline, now its being used for almost every goal to try and find a reason to disallow it, unless your Arsenal , obviously.

It should be fact based, was the ball out, was it over the line, was he offside, none of this interfering with play bullsh*t, if hes on the pitch then hes interfering with play all the f**king time.

Anything subjective is just nonsense, all its doing is give someone who is reffing the game an opportunity to make a decision the ref possibly wouldnt have made, which is just ridiculous.

Edited yesterday at 06:541 day by dkw

foden's kick is similar to son on rudiger and maguire? to batshuayi one. I think all 3 should be red but batshuayi one was deemed not even a foul which is baffling.

As for VAR, think the good out weight the bad. Without it, there would be more inaccuracies happening. The recent haaland goal and diaz disallowed goal against spurs are the type that can be easily addressed if they give the team to challenge it like in tennis.

13 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

(Definitely a red by the way, you can't stud somebody in the stomach/crotch and it not be violent conduct)

I beg to differ (same ref btw)

9 minutes ago, All Barco no bite said:

I beg to differ (same ref btw)

Sorry, forgot the addendum 'when it is not to the detriment of Manchester United'

Reading the transcript of the VAR chat re the Haaland goal it's clear they were rushing. Lots of "quick, quick, quick". No great surprise they missed Enzo's offside. Excess haste, tunnel vision. It ain't the technology, it's the human beings operating it.

7 minutes ago, dermott said:

Reading the transcript of the VAR chat re the Haaland goal it's clear they were rushing. Lots of "quick, quick, quick". No great surprise they missed Enzo's offside. Excess haste, tunnel vision. It ain't the technology, it's the human beings operating it.

Would love to know whether the actual match Lino or Oliver himself (both are in contact with each other) had clocked Enzo off side - if so can't believe they didn't raise it as a question.

Listening to those clowns deliberating, it was just so amateurish. Every fan watching at the time, KNEW it was offside and the goal shouldn't have stood. It wasn't even close. Howard Webb, waffling on, trying to sick up for his colleagues - it's bo**ocks. It was such a bad, basic error. Never mind "we need better people tto operate the technology", the mistakes just keep on happenong and are getting worse. Just bin VAR NOW so we can all enjoy our football again.

1 hour ago, Blue Ram said:

Would love to know whether the actual match Lino or Oliver himself (both are in contact with each other) had clocked Enzo off side - if so can't believe they didn't raise it as a question.

Hard to know with Oliver, depends if he had a clear view. The lino definitely should have from side on.

2 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

Sorry, forgot the addendum 'when it is not to the detriment of Manchester United'

It was a clear foul on Maguire.

Pretty obvious Batshuayi knocked him down with his big dick energy.

3 hours ago, All Barco no bite said:

I beg to differ (same ref btw)

No, that was the legendary Anthony Taylor. Kavanagh was VAR that night.

6 hours ago, Nibs said:

Listening to those clowns deliberating, it was just so amateurish. Every fan watching at the time, KNEW it was offside and the goal shouldn't have stood. It wasn't even close. Howard Webb, waffling on, trying to sick up for his colleagues - it's bo**ocks. It was such a bad, basic error. Never mind "we need better people tto operate the technology", the mistakes just keep on happenong and are getting worse. Just bin VAR NOW so we can all enjoy our football again.

I've got a better idea, phase out the PGMOL and start again with something new and better. Getting rid of VAR won't solve anything, the complaints will be as loud as ever because it's the same people in charge. Nobody liked Howard Webb as a ref, yet he is now the one in charge. We'll never see change if the same people are the ones in charge. I'm sick of refs getting celebrity status too. I don't even want to know their names, I just want them to do their job properly.

VAR in every international tournament I have watched has been consistent and accurate (for the most part) Even in the Champions League I don't have an issue with how they use it. It's always in the Premier League where it's most controversial, and it's because of the people running it. These same morons that have lacked common sense since the day I started watching football are turning something that should be easy to use into something complicated.

I think they messed up big time in the Manchester derby — it happens.

I still think VAR remains a bit of a lie though; we were told it would only be used for clear and obvious errors, and that's simply not what happens.
For me, the absolute worst is the major rewinding of plays to find a questionable foul and then take a goal back, like they did so many times at the WC.

Perhaps they could use a challenge system like the NFL. At the very least, it would limit the number of interruptions.

37 minutes ago, acaeus said:

I think they messed up big time in the Manchester derby — it happens.

I still think VAR remains a bit of a lie though; we were told it would only be used for clear and obvious errors, and that's simply not what happens.
For me, the absolute worst is the major rewinding of plays to find a questionable foul and then take a goal back, like they did so many times at the WC.

Perhaps they could use a challenge system like the NFL. At the very least, it would limit the number of interruptions.

I don't understand why the implementation of it is so difficult. Unless it's a clear and obvious mistake, go with the on field decision. If you need to slow it down and take a look at it from multiple angles, then it's not clear and obvious. A bit of common sense is all that is needed. The offside goal for City is nothing but incompetence though. VAR being in the game isn't at fault for that, it's the officials that are the problem. It's the most basic of basic decisions. Is Enzo Fernandez interfering with play? Of course, so it's offside.

1 hour ago, Scott Harris said:

I don't understand why the implementation of it is so difficult. Unless it's a clear and obvious mistake, go with the on field decision. If you need to slow it down and take a look at it from multiple angles, then it's not clear and obvious. A bit of common sense is all that is needed. The offside goal for City is nothing but incompetence though. VAR being in the game isn't at fault for that, it's the officials that are the problem. It's the most basic of basic decisions. Is Enzo Fernandez interfering with play? Of course, so it's offside.

I find it hard to be too upset about the offside given what I said about the red card before, but it was a clear error for sure.

It's indeed mind-boggling given what the FA says versus how VAR actually operates. They have likely been unable to train VAR and referees to operate the way they say they want it to work.

The officials see what they want to see, not what VAR shows them.

So the KMI review of the last round has decided that Gabriel booting a keeper in the face and not getting any card at all was the correct decision, what an absolute f**king joke.

"The panel unanimously supported the referee's call of no red card. Multiple players were on the ground competing and challenging for the loose ball, and the action of Gabriel was not deemed to be an act of violent conduct or serious foul play."