After living in the US and watching NFL for some years now, the more time goes on the more I think that we’re only really going to get a better standard of officiating with more referees on the field. The standard of officiating in the NFL is so much higher, they have video replays, but first and foremost they have an officiating team on the field. I don’t think a single ref is equipped to deal with the intensity, speed or gravity of todays game. This would hopefully mean a lesser reliance on VAR, less stops, a game more akin to the pre VAR days. Obviously there’s a number of challenges with this, implementation, it may only be feasible for the top 3 divisions, etc etc etc. Thoughts?
No! It's a different game to rugby, American football, gaelic football.etc. VAR has been a big disappointment, more refs on the pitch would be the same
Refs are incompetent as it is, I don't want to double the incompetence on the field. They literally have video replay and yet still, on a consistent basis, come to wrong conclusion hence the million and one apologies Webb & the PGMOL has given out past 18 months.
We already have 3 refs. 2 assistants and one referee. How many more do you want? I seem to remember UEFA experimenting with an additional 2 making 5 in total and it didn’t improve things
I love VAR. It just needs a bit more tweaking. I watch a load of rugby union, and video analysis is essential to get it right. As are consequent delays in play, but so what? Big difference is that there are screens in the top division in the ground for fans to see what's going on. How the decision is arrived at. So....explanation as to what is happening is the key. In football you get it watching at home but not at the ground. I'm not sure more humans on /around the pitch is the solution. Having said that, I don't crave VAR down the Well. But I do wish for crucial decisions to be decided correctly, be it for or against us. Which may mean VAR.
How about two extra lines people? They only run half the pitch on one side, so they don't have a great view of half the field on the opposite side. I'd like to see them given more responsibility, too, and make decisions in discussion with the referee.
