After four rounds of Premier League matches we are now heading into the first international break of the season. It isn’t the stuff on the pitch that is getting all the attention though. VAR was introduced into the competition this summer and to say it has been a resounding success, would be a straight up lie.

To be honest, I was all for VAR after the World Cup as they seemingly worked it a lot better than the Premier League are, but now I can’t wait for the back of it. I think it causes more problems that it solves and overall lowers the entertainment and enjoyment of the league.

VAR does have potential but the Premier League have said they will on intervene with decisions if it is ‘Clear and Obvious.’ I have never despised two words more than those as it is so subjective and confusing that it just doesn’t help anybody.

There have been instances where VAR has stepped in this season and done well. Aymeric Laporte’s handball against Tottenham was correctly ruled out, abiding by the new handball rule which is barbaric in itself but thats a whole other story. Similarly, Willy Boly’s handball against Leicester rightly chalked off Leander Dendoncker’s goal, so after those decisions were made I was happy VAR intervened.

However.

In gameweek 4, pointless Watford had a big game at St James’ Park where points would be at a premium for both clubs. After taking the lead, Watford found themselves defending a set piece the ball eventually hits Isaac Hayden’s arm and falls to Fabian Schar who slots home.

Now, looking at the footage you can clearly see the ball hits Hayden’s arm/hand so you’d think it would be ruled out in similar fashion to Dendoncker’s and Gabriel Jesus’.

EVERY goal is checked by VAR, and with an experienced referee like Craig Pawson in the room at Stockley Park, you would stake your house that he would notice the clear violation of a BRAND NEW rule, but no!

In gameweek four alone there were several dodgy decisions by the men at Stockley Park which are inexcusable. Youri Tielemans got away with a potential ankle breaker and Sebastien Haller deserved a penalty to name a couple. The decision by Kevin Friend at Selhurst Park could also be a story in itself but for me VAR has nothing to do with it.

So what is the point of VAR?

VAR was brought in to help the referees and yet it is seemingly putting them in a worser light. After a month of the technology being in the best league in the world I cannot wait for it to go. As well as killing the enjoyment of a goal, it just dominates the headlines every week as it isn’t being used properly.

I don’t know the exact statistics but if referees get 90% of their decisions right and VAR brings that figure up to 95% is there really point using it. It slows down the game, kills the celebrations after the goal and the people at Stockley Park are too scared to overturn a decision that isn’t factual.

We’ve seen an abundance of penalty shouts which aren’t being given, that were rightly given in the World Cup just two years ago. Lamela on Laporte, Lascelles on Kane and Ceballos on All spring to mind but there will be plenty more I’ve missed and plenty more in the future which will be bottled.

In conclusion, I would take drastic action and abandon VAR if it continues to be used wrongly. The referees in the VAR room have to grow a pair and be prepared to overrule their mates for the integrity of the match. In the World Cup, the VAR officials would usually be from a different country than the match officials which I think is the way to go about it.

It takes that emotion out of it as these referees would have spent a lot of time together and made good friendships so it must be that little bit more difficult to overturn their decision. It sounds outlandish but this could be the case.

I’ve always been an advocate for foreign referees to come in to the Premier League as several high class managers and players have said that England has some of the worst referees in the world. It would be refreshing to have some new faces in the official’s department as the sights of Martin Atkinson and Mike Dean every week is slowly giving me depression.