VAR is BACK in the spotlight.
Originally, fans were worried they wouldn’t be able to cheer goals (that turned out wrong). Then they were worried the drama would be sucked out of the game (so SO wrong). Now, they are FURIOUS that sometimes the human looking at the replay doesn’t get it right. THEY WANT HUMANS GETTING IT WRONG WITH NO REPLAYS BECAUSE IT FEELS RIGHT.
The Iran/Portugal game ended up a draw when the ref incorrectly called a handball on a player who handled in the box when he couldn’t really see what the fuck was going on. Sometimes refs give it, sometimes they don’t. I didn’t think the decision was right, but I was glad the ref had a full understanding of what he was doing.
For me, I love VAR. Neymar shouldn’t get away with being really good at cheating. The hopeful offshoot of that is maybe they’ll start thinking more about putting on a spectacle than trying hoodwink the ref and the fans.
One of the reasons we need VAR is because outside the sheer speed of the game, players were getting exceptionally talented at cheating. Look no further than the Champions League final. Ramos freely committed ABH on Karius early on and concussed him into errors later in the game. He also judo rolled the arm of the hottest player in Europe so he couldn’t carry on. Who felt good about the CL result? Who would have felt better if the dark arts of the games weren’t of value?
Most of us, unless you’re the sort of traditionalist that preferred the good old days when you didn’t have to wear a seatbelt whilst you were driving the wrong way down a dual carriageway way on 3 pints of Super T.
VAR is already var better than it was in the Bundesliga. There have been huge jumps in efficiencies already. Give it 2 years and the refs will be watching replays on their armPads or some shit like that and the whole process will be way quicker. There is no joy in shite decisions, there is no justice in a system that consistently rewards those who cheat really fucking well.
MAJOR news about Torriera. Not only did he rock 94% pass completion for Uraguay as they toasted Russia, his Sporting Director is on the record as saying he’s left the club.
“Tomorrow we will have our first meeting with Giampaolo and that is when our transfer window starts. An excellent player like Torreira has left us but we will replace him. The squad will be company will be competitive as always.”
The PERFECT news. A real DM. What a moment.
Ever Banega is on our radar according to Ed Maylon. He says the club have no intention of selling him unless someone comes in and pays his massive release clause of £17m (for a 29 yr old).
‘A high-ranking Sevilla official told The Independent on Monday that Banega is not for sale under any circumstances, and they are planning talks with the player on his return from the World Cup to reassure him that the project at the Sanchez Pizjuan is the best place for his talents. They also believe that Arsenal have higher priority targets, whereas Banega remains at the heart of their plans.’
Any outfit worth its rep as a selling club needs to shift on older players for big money, they’re absolutely desperate to move him on and the player is likely gagging for a Premier League payday.
Gelson Martins is attracting interest from Italy and Arsenal. We apparently bid £30m for him, he’d be a lunatic to turn down Arsenal, the greatest sporting project in the world. Caglar Soyuncu has denied contact with Arsenal, it sounds like he’s fishing for a club, so we’ll see what happens there. Jack Wilshere isn’t of interest to Juventus… what a shocker.
Right, that’s me done. Listen to our ace podcast.
We talk:
- Granit Xhaka and Swiss thoughts
- Mesut Ozil and the Bling Bling gang
- Bernd Leno and the state of our exkeepers
- How Spurs make us feel about England
ENJOY!
SPOTIFY | STITCHER | ITUNES | GOOGLE | POCKET CASTS
DM
2nd
World cup?
Tr4phy
Tr4phy
Yayyy… I am getting there..
See ya soon DM..
Dammit!
Splendid timing once again DM
I’m loving VAR. People complaining about it are totally missing the point. Just like Pedro said, the referees may still get things wrong but they are still making a far more informed decision. Of course it wasn’t a pen for handball yesterday, but we can now totally blame the ref for that, whereas before it would be a case of “well from where he was standing at the time it obviously seemed like intentional handball”. Improvements will be made over the years, and refs will feel less pressured to change their minds when calls are referred to VAR.
Things are so much better at the club, proper manager, proper coaches and scouts who will have proper tactics and prep, getting the right players in early rather than leaving it until last minute in the hope to impress Stan with savings on wages.
How did they put up with Wenger for so long?
I have no problem with VAR. It’ll get more big decisions right than wrong.
Long may it continue. Makes sense to get the incomings first then trim the excess fat from the squad afterwards.
What would made me absolutely lose my shit is IF VAR should in anyway affects decisions negatively or in Argentina’s favour and thus deprive Nigeria of going onto next round,
hopefully the best side on the night goes through
you can’t underestimate the diving antics of Messi and Co when the stakes are that high
A Messi fan from Kerala, India has committed suicide after Argentina’s loss against Croatia.
Akilan
Any other good news my friend ?
Worth noting that it’s just a game, that fan wasn’t even from the same country where it still wouldn’t have been worth doing that.
In saying that, may that person rest peacefully anyway.
‘Things are so much better at the club, proper manager, proper coaches and scouts who will have proper tactics and prep, getting the right players in ‘
But still thesame pompous,negative and hate-filled minority fans who shamelessly disgraced the club prior to Wenger’s departure
Caglar denied contact? His father and club officials have said we’re in for him
Akilan
if that’s true then The government of India should probably put in place a suicide watch on all Messi’s fans considering Messi may well go out from the tourney tonight if they falter
“What would made me absolutely lose my shit is IF VAR should in anyway affects decisions negatively or in Argentina’s favour”
Victorious, what are you talking about? VAR literally shows a video of exactly what has happened. If a referee sees it and still makes a mistake, it’s on the referee, not on VAR.
Good that Calgar denied we are in contact with him. A head scratcher that deal. He’s been tracked by Turkish clubs. Middlesbrough some levels better than most Turkish clubs don’t you think Gambon?
#NaijaAllTheWay
Then what exactly is the usefulness of VAR if as it happens it can’t change the ref’s opinion?…any incompetent ref will still overrule what ever VAR shows him.. no?
with what I’ve seen thus far, it hasn’t exactly eradicate the controversies surrounding referee decisions but has certainly made it more complicated…. still would reserve judgement until I see more of it
He’s been tracked by Turkish clubs. Middlesbrough some levels better than most Turkish clubs don’t you think Gambon?
He’s also been tracked by Bayern Dortmund I believe one of the Manchester clubs and us
I know he has lots of experience and pedigree but am I the only one who has been completely underwhelmed by our club’s supposed tracking Benatia? Perhaps if he was 5 years younger but considering we’ve apparently secured Sokratis what is the point?
Probably just paper talk.
PEDRO Good Podcast. Agree with your opinions about World Cup. Personally I am not that impressed with England considering the opposition we have played sofar. Kane is a goalscoring machine based on efficiency rather than glamour. Lingard is the one player who has impressed me. Otherwise the team looks singularly mediocre. Regarding comments on Arsenal players at World Cup Xhaka is marmite. You either like him or hate him. What I do believe is that under right manager he can be an effective player. Ozil is too easily maligned. He is a class footballer and outstanding when on song. In… Read more »
If Argentina beat Nigeria 1 nil and Iceland beats Croatia then Iceland are through?
Found it
With one game to go: Croatia have already qualified and would need a remarkable collapse to finish anywhere but top. The race for second is complicated. Nigeria will definitely qualify if they beat Argentina; if they draw, they will still go through provided Iceland do not beat Croatia, or win by more than a two-goal margin. If Iceland and Argentina both win, it would come down to goal difference, with Argentina needing to win by at least one more goal than Iceland to overhaul them. A draw is no good to either of them.
“the ref had a full understanding of what he was doing.”
No pen, but still he gives one, and so he was understanding what he was doing ?? Ok…
“Mesut Ozil and the Bling Bling gang”
Priceless.
“A Messi fan from Kerala, India has committed suicide after Argentina’s loss against Croatia”
Seriously, WTF!
Well Argentina and Nigeria hopes Hrvatska (native name of Croatia) will do again England away game from 2008 quali and push them thorugh. Plenty of drama today. Btw its great that wc retained 4 teams per group format.
As I was saying in the previous thread, VAR will be effective in the long run but it still requires tuning.
Unlikely to happen, but they need to incorporate a limit on how many calls a team have per half/per game.
Once that’s implemented, we’ll eventually be able to do away with players acting out their charades.
I think Nigeria v Argentina is a 50/50 game that should have goals.
Will Nigeria implode, defensively. Will Argentina put on another disjointed display. Either way, both countries have something to play for, as well as the unpredictability in the Croatia v Iceland game.
Crazy rumours in the papers today… Ramsey is in Lazio’s sights as a replacement for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic… amounts up to £100m being quoted. Insane.
Lazio will be in big money if Savic is being sold and if Ramsey is their replacement we shouldn’t sell him cheap! (Although we can’t be ridiculous either.) I think £50m-£80m for a player is fair a player with 1 year left in his contract as long as the money gets reinvested in the squad…
I think £50m-£80m for a player is fair a player with 1 year left in his contract as long as the money gets reinvested in the squad…
Up to 80 million for Aaron Ramsey? We’re debating whether it’s smart to give him a huge new deal with his questionable fitness and you up to 80 million for him??? Madness. 35-50 million Max. And I mean Max
Leeds I don’t think there’s anyway Ramsey will go to Lazio, but if that did happen then we should absolutely take full advantage of them having received £80 Million for Milinkovic Savic and ask for £50 Million or more, see how the European clubs like it. If Ramsey is going, wherever, I would like to see us put everything into getting Kovacic who has a £44 Million release clause. Just like WE says I think Kovacic can be a star if the midfield is built around him, Torreira, Xhaka, Kovacic actually has a nice balance to it as well, Martins,… Read more »
*you want
Yeah Kovacic would be my choice too if Ramsey goes.
I think if we sold our deadwood off promptly and consistently we could afford Kovacic even with Ramsey here but I don’t think that’s going to happen.
Leeds
There might be a bit of risk being played by the club in terms of buying while the players are available and then being able to sell later.
I think we must be close to the maximum number of overseas players in the squad as with Torerria and Sokratis I make it 17 which is the maximum allowed. That however includes all 3 GK’s off which one will go. This is also categorising Bellerin and Iwobi as home grown as they came through the youth set up and Mavropanis as he is under 21.
Therefore I cannot see us allowing Ramsey to go as we can only have one further foreign player come in.
Sorry 2 players, I included Mertesacker who has retired so we have 16 including the 3 GKs
Skinny absolutely more than a couple will be going so it shouldn’t be a problem.
Victorious
The only “fans who shamlessly disgraced the club prior to Wenger’s departure” were those who stood by Wenger.
Come on Argentina!
Well shows what the papers know , Javier Pastore was supposed to be moving to West ham as of last week with just a medical left to complete
He is having his medicals at Roma as we speak
The VAR drama was mental, and the bad ref calls made it feel like a WWE show. I was half-expecting Queiroz to come on the pitch and hit CR7 with a steel chair.
VAR is going to be a little crazy for a while due to the high number of incidents that come up.
However, as players learn that things won’t go unnoticed and that simulation will be picked up on, we should hopefully see a reduction of these incidents.
Referees will still get the odd thing wrong (or have a certain opinion when things aren’t completely clear cut) but on the whole it will cut down on 90% of incorrect decisions.
It should also become less of a circus over time as technology and its implementation moves on.
Well shows what the papers know , Javier Pastore was supposed to be moving to West ham as of last week with just a medical left to complete
He changed his mind and wants to go to Roma and the papers reported as such
Carts
“Unlikely to happen, but they need to incorporate a limit on how many calls a team have per half/per game. Once that’s implemented, we’ll eventually be able to do away with players acting out their charades.”
A bit like cricket reviews then? Good idea. Most of these footballers are surely too stupid to use them responsibly though, so I’m less optimistic that it would lead to less “simulation” and dissent… Could be wrong.
Cesc Appeal
I read yesterday Kovacic just had his release clause increased to 300 million
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/23902816/why-liverpool-sell-mo-salah-soon-possible
On Point.
Receding
The papers have been largely right about our transfer business
If you were Javier Pastore and you had offers from Westham and Roma, who would you choose?
Westham are a nothing club but they may have come close to signing him.
I read yesterday Kovacic just had his release clause increased to 300 million
Unless he signed a new contract they can’t do that and considering he’s at the world cup and kind of wants to go it doesn’t seem likely
I saw gossip that Godin might go to Manchester United for £18m as he’s in the last year of his contract. I always figured him as being at Atletico until retirement, but if he’s going to leave we’d be mad not to go after him – one of the best around. Ok, he’s old-ish at 32, but he’d have a few decent years in him and would be significantly better than Mustafi.
Why would Liverpool sell Salah? After the season he just had. Even if he has a drop off he’s still capable of scoring 20-25 goals a season which is good for a wideman
“”He changed his mind and wants to go to Roma and the papers reported as such””
So you are saying everything you read in the papers during the summer is true then is it Marko…Good on you
“Why would Liverpool sell Salah? After the season he just had. Even if he has a drop off he’s still capable of scoring 20-25 goals a season which is good for a wideman”
Guess the article is too much of a long read for you and you cannot insult the author afterwards so why bother eh
Officially, how long did last nights second half between Portugal and Iran last?
Must have been and hour.
“If you were Javier Pastore and you had offers from Westham and Roma, who would you choose?”
Depends on who pays more into my bank account..he isn’t winning anything at Roma either . He came from Serie A anyway so will make more sense he goes back there.
VAR is making Refs look more stupid than they already over.
Refs are overturning original decisions and getting it wrong…lol
Karim, I’m afraid not. India with a population of 1.2 billion, though a footballing minnow in every sense of the word and football isn’t as popular as some other sorts, there are some parts of the country that are genuinely mad at football. The northeastern part of India( 7 states, 45-55m population), produces more than 50% of our footballers. You’ll find all sorts of jerseys including Arsenal’s here. These people usually have mongoloid facial features and don’t come under your average mainstream Indian. They are our football hub. Bengal and Kerala are the other two main regions where football is… Read more »
Barking you are barking mad.
VAR will reduce footbsll to a non contact sport if every petty incident is revued.
‘The only “fans who shamlessly disgraced the club prior to Wenger’s departure” were those who stood by Wenger.
Come on Argentina!’
Well said that man
I’ve lived and worked in Barking/Plaistow and I’ve visited Rome. I know which one I’d pick, even for a pay cut!
Akilan,
Thanks for the good review of the place that football has in India. Very good read.
Barking, sure but if you’re talking about Ramsey, dude is just entering his prime. No way he goes to an inferior club atm in every way to even Arsenal. Not that hard to find a better team than us nowadays especially for a very well rated player entering his best years. Doesn’t make sense for him to start making retirement plans.
Raporta
No, Pastore. West Ham vs Roma.
Also Ramsey won’t go to Lazio – thinks too highly of himself and has been in the record as saying he would like to play in Spain I believe.
Excellent article posted by Receding @ 1402.
Definitely worth a read.
Graham
The only person” who stood by Wenger ” was kronke and he is still at the club.
The fans that you are referring to are supporters of the club not the manager.
The people (It’s not right to call them supporters) that victorious is referring to are the moaning, miserable, negative bunch of know nothings that frequent this blog (and you are not one of them I hasten to add).
Marko, Gambon, dissenter, qna, Steve and the rest.. They all must be the life and soul of a party…
Spain would have knocked England out of Euro 96 had VAR been in use lol
And Arsenal would have won the league according to the sun newspaper.
3 years ago
Argentina vs Nigeria is gonna be a match of wits and who really wants it. omo naija come on but please just stop @ the 1/4 when u qualify! wishing u the best though. victorious, sometimes the spillage from you is utter garbage.
The Sun had Mr Magoo on the VAR panel.
The Nigerian team will have to operate at 150% to stand a chance of beating a desperate Argentina. There will be one vs one battles all over the field and one has to just think Argentina will do enough to win the game. I can see diving cunts all over the field to draw key fouls. It’s also in FIFA’s interest for Messi to stay in the competition further so watch the officials. ,,,and that little man, Messi, that little genius won’t have three consecutive poor games. I wish Nigeria had played Argentina in the first game the before they… Read more »
Lucas Vasquez is the latest wide player to be linked.
At least we seem to be after a winger, badly needed.
Report from the daily star “Arsenal should have been crowned champions of the English top flight – and Newcastle should still be in the division.” By Jack Watts of the daily star 10.07, 14 Jul 2016 UPDATED 22.07, 14 Jul 2016 “The stats geeks over at the Hypothetical Premier League have put together this table to show how the season would have ended if video refs were used. Every week, the footy site analysed major incidents and took into account the opinions of key pundits to alter the results of matches which were unfairly won, drawn or lost because of… Read more »
Messi’s had a dozen or more consecutive poor games in the World Cup.
Pierre
Let it go.
Seriously.
If VAR had been in use Chelsea would have beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.
Raptora
Yeah, Ramsey should wait until the elite clubs come in for him…. Trouble is, he could be waiting a very long time
Pierre alls well that ends well. Hypothetically speaking if what you say is correct then Wenger might still be manager so we’re better off now because it didn’t happen. Let it go man he’s sacked and no amount of revisionism or wishes on shooting stars is going to change that
France again looking sluggish and bereft of ideas going forward.
If VAR had been in use Chelsea would have beaten Arsenal in the FA Cup Final.
That’s very true isn’t it Pierre
Ruth
Who cares about the shitty fa cup, we (Wenger) would have won the league with VAR in operation in 2015/16…we have no chance of even competing for the league without var…
Pretty sure Argentina will smash Nigeria if they play Di Maria and Banega.
Nigeria don’t have the cynicism of Croatia, nor the central midfield controllers to expose Argentina in that area, and as soon Messi realises he is playing against a naive side that gives him space he will come alive and elevate his game to levels where are used to seeing from him.
Pierre
The stats geeks over at the Hypothetical Premier League have put together this table to show how the season would have ended if video refs were used.
The problem with this is almost all managers aside Wenger, make in game changes based on things happening on the pitch, so why VAR might have changed some decisions, things like Penalties could be missed, the substitution patterns would have changed and so many scenarios that is frankly not possible to imagine.
Give it a break.
CA good news is that we do seem to be looking at wingers but bad news is they only seem to be RW’s. No legitimate links to LW’s outside of q tenuous one for Guedes recently and Lozano
So i guess that insightful comment is meant to insinuate Messi only raises his game against “naive” sides.
Fascinating insight
We have all been fooled by this Messi lad for a decade now but one man has not let himself be carried away, the great oracle of Le grove Paulinho
Paulinho
I agree with you 100% about the Argentina vs Nigeria game.
Th Nigerian team does not have the nous and know-how to win this type of games.
It will be one vs one battles everywhere.
It’s not going to be a blow-out but Argentina will comfortably win.
Yeah think the Argies will squeeze through, backing them to win by 2 goals tonight and expect a virtuoso Messi performance.
Don’t think Iceland will have enough to beat Croatia even with them resting players.
Based on watching France I’d even give Argentina a good shout of upsetting a few and beating them in the last 16. They’ve been very average and look a bit naive.
Pierre
Iceland got a penalty against Nigeria via VAR, if there was no VAR, 3 years from now, you’d be saying that game might have changed if VAR was used because at 2-1 down blah blah blah….
Receding – Still getting over Ozil being dropped?
Man up you dopey git.
I don’t understand the people with the anti-VAR stance. What did you expect, a perfect, smooth application right from the off? This is just like any transition really, takes time and effort to improve and perfect.
Receding
“So i guess that insightful comment is meant to insinuate Messi only raises his game against “naive” sides. Fascinating insight”
Actually..YES
The Messi that plays for Argentina is a poor duplicate of the one that shows up in La liga and the CL. He is yet to raise his game in the world cup.
Pierre So you’re a supporter right? No you fucking aren’t, you’re a cheerleader. A sycophantic cheer leading cunt, that is hugely embarrassed that you backed a failing manager for years and years against overwhelming evidence that he was failing. There are a group of fans on here that have been right all along, literally all along. Fans that said the 2002-2005 team was broken up way too quickly, that said project youth was a failing strategy, that said having a good goal keeper was vital, that said our defence was consistently weak, that said there was a need for a… Read more »
Pierre is still burrowing into every rabbit hole looking for conspiracy theories to feed off on.
Wake up and smell the coffee [or whatever pleases you]. Wenger is gone.
France are such a disappointment. Playing like a pub team.
“Receding – Still getting over Ozil being dropped?”
I cannot for the life of me understand what Ozil getting dropped has to do with me and why i should be getting over it…oh well whatever floats your boat i guess