Published 13:43 IST, November 6th 2019
Premier League: Gary Neville urges VAR patience despite controversy
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville has backed the use of VAR in the Premier League despite the controversy surrounding VAR decisions this season.
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Every time a game is paused in the Premier League this season, managers from both sides break a sweat. Will it land in their favour? Or will it go with the underdogs? Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) has left Premier League managers sweating this season. Who would've thought that three little letters will have such an impact in the Premier League after 11 games this season.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard and Liverpool's 'Normal One' Jurgen Klopp are just two of the many managers to have voiced their concerns regarding VAR this season. Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville, however, has asked for more patience when it comes to the bedding in period for VAR in the Premier League. While his fellow football pundit Jamie Carragher seems to have lost patience with VAR already, Gary Neville took to Twitter to say that the Premier League should persist with the use of VAR despite a cloud of controversy gathering around the technology.
Whilst I never agreed with the “ Clear and Obvious Error Bar “ or “ Refs won’t go to the Monitor “ I actually think the main problem has been the refs not sticking to their approach . They were frustratingly consistent in the way they were applying the system for 2 months . https://t.co/feU6a9QFxg
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) November 5, 2019
Gary Neville urges patience with VAR
Gary Neville, who is a pundit for Sky Sports, went on to say that the referees were "frustratingly consistent" with the way they were applying the technology in the first couple of months in the Premier League. However, Neville believes that since the lines between clear and obvious errors have been blurred in recent weeks, this has led to the controversy surrounding the use of VAR in recent weeks. Neville's words come at a time when Premier League managers are set to meet the head referees in order to discuss the problems surrounding VAR.
Liverpool's Roberto Firmino was flagged offside before putting the ball in the net against Aston Villa and the decision was confirmed by VAR
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 2, 2019
The red line signifies Firmino and was aligned to his armpit, which was marginally ahead of the last Villa defender#AVLLIV pic.twitter.com/a2OnNWnz2E
VAR was once again the talk of the town during Matchday 11 in the Premier League last weekend. Liverpool's Roberto Firmino had a goal chalked off for offside during Liverpool's 2-1 win over Aston Villa. The Premier League issued a statement after the incident, stating the Firmino's goal was ruled out since his armpit was ahead of the last line of defence. Chelsea manager Frank Lampard also criticized VAR after Watford were awarded a penalty during Chelsea's 2-1 win against the basement boys. Lampard went on to say that the Premier League is in a "very dangerous" place if incidents like these continue to occur in England's top-flight.
12:10 IST, November 6th 2019