What's the problem? The Confusion of VAR in the Premier League.

This Premier League season has been dominated by two things: Liverpool & confusion about the use of VAR.

The current running joke in the Premier League is to not even celebrate anymore when a goal is scored because we know it will inevitably be reviewed and called back.

This joke is representative of pundits and fans who continue to have problems with use of VAR (specifically how it is used and when it is used). VAR this season has been a kill joy.

Why?

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VAR is itself, a good thing. Giving refs the ability to get the call correct after looking at it a second time is inherently a good thing for the sport. What isn't good at the moment is three things: 1) The VAR checks kill the games emotions after scoring a goal, 2) What is clear and obvious when it comes to an offside, & 3) Should the VAR ref control what the ref is doing on the field or should the call to use VAR completely come down to the ref on the field.

Let's start with the first problem thus far that has been encountered in the Premier League. Throughout the course of a season we have seen goal checks happen in every game. The problem fans and players have with it is that they cannot celebrate the full emotion of the goal in the moment. They have to wait until it is checked and sometimes the goal is called back for something that couldn't be seen in real time.

For those conservative leaning fans, this is infuriating. Football is the only game in the world that truly flows, killing that flow and potentially taking goals back after celebrating them just doesn't sit right for a sport that doesn't really change its laws. Sadly, this part of VAR is inevitable as we will have to stop to get "clear and obvious wrong" calls correct but the margins of what should clearly be a goal and what shouldn't be a goal aren't. This leads me to #2.

The offside rulings in the Premier League this season have been part of the joke with VAR. Goals have been called out for having an armpit offside and goals that look onside in real time are now being called back. Offside itself is a black and white rule and should inherently not be controversial. Yet even with the use of VAR to get a goal right, we complain.

We complain due to the inconsistencies on when VAR is used for offside and when it hasn't been this season. There has already been talk of how "thick" the line is to determine what offside is and how even the technology of VAR isn't necessarily accurate when deeming what is or isn't offside. This is infuriating, given that many promised VAR as the solution to end the controversy when it comes to the simple black and white ruling of offside.

The thickness of the offside line is now being discussed for VAR.

This leads me to one last point that has bugged Premier League fans all season. Who is in control of VAR, the refs watching the screen or the ref on the field. This season, refs have had trouble determining this as they continue to learn the new system.

VAR should be used as a last resort for refs on the field. During the World Cup and in the Bundesliga where it has been used at its most efficient, VAR hasn't caused much controversy. However; in the Premier League, refs haven't used the screens on the field at all and instead have resorted to a checking system.

This has given more power to the VAR refs that aren't on the field, which is absurd given that the center ref should be the one in control of the game on the field not the refs looking at a screen. This also means that it has been checked more, taking away VAR's use as a tool of last resort.

This is the Premier League's fault as they have adopted a different system to that used in Germany and other European leagues, which has proven to be somewhat successful.

So, there will always be a learning process when it comes to new systems but the way the Premier League has gone about it hasn't helped. Lots can be learned and there is reason for romantic fans of the game to be outraged.

It either will be fixed or the Premier League will stop using it all together, which will please many fans on the isle.