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VAR v vibes: there can be only one winner

BAD VIBES

Perhaps the only thing everyone can agree on is that, according to our old friend The Letter of the Law, the “goal” Rayan Cherki scored from inside his own half in the dying moments of added time of Manchester City’s wild win at Liverpool was correctly ruled out. It took a while but, between them, referee Craig Pawson and his coterie of curtain-twitching buzz-killing fun sponges in the Stockley Park VAR bunker got there in the end. Football Daily shudders to think about how much tedious debate Cherki could have put a stop to by simply putting his boot through the ball a bit harder. But we’re guessing he spent much of his weekend watching curling at the Winter Olympics and was trying to channel his inner Jen Dodds by sending the ball trundling on its merry way with just enough force to cross the goal line but not so much that it might do anything so vulgar as ripple the net. Like the match officials, it got there in the end but only after Dominik Szoboszlai and Erling Haaland had engaged in some tit-for-tat fouling that led to the goal being correctly disallowed, the Hungarian correctly sent off and an entertaining debate between those who would prefer matches to be ultimately governed by “vibes” over VAR.

Cards on the table: Football Daily makes no apologies for declaring it is – and always has been – a resident of Camp Vibes, insofar as we never wanted VAR to be introduced in the first place because it ought to have been obvious to anyone who gave the matter even the slightest bit of consideration that it would end up being an absolute circus. A firm believer that you’re offside if the lino’s flag goes up and you’re onside if it doesn’t, the sight of video assistant referees using multicoloured lines, set squares and repeated slow motion rock’n’roll replays to figure out if some striker’s kneecap has strayed offside in the buildup to a goal makes us want to set something on fire.

More cards on the table: Football Daily (or today’s edition, at least) doesn’t care that allowing Cherki’s effort could have a significant bearing on the title or Bigger Cup qualification places, doesn’t care whether Liverpool’s best player this season is allowed to play against the team we support on Wednesday night, and doesn’t care that ultimately at Anfield on Sunday the correct decision was reached. As our pal, the actor, comedian and broadcaster Charlie Baker recently opined in an impassioned soliloquy on the wireless: “VAR is a thief of love and joy because beauty is in the mistake. The gold is in the cracks and that is why we like football because it is full of mistakes.”

In the past 24 hours we have seen, heard and read assorted pundits, journalists and fans drone on about how VAR ultimately led to this correct decision being made, while failing to point out how often it gets other decisions wrong. They are the same people who were falling over each other a few years ago in the stampede to tell everyone how great VAR would be and are now too entrenched in their view to admit they were wrong and acknowledge it is a complete shambles that is ruining everyone’s enjoyment of the game except theirs. In the absence of VAR, Cherki’s goal would have been allowed to stand, Szoboszlai wouldn’t have been sent off and pretty much nobody would have cared. In the presence of this all-seeing aid that was supposed to put an end to controversy, the debate rumbles on and a quite wonderful goal has disappeared. And while this may have been the correct decision, it was not necessarily the right one, and anyone who thinks otherwise is a jobsworth who is in thrall to rules, regulations, procedure and the small print of T&Cs. Ultimately, we suppose all this palaver boils down to results and how much they matter to any given fan over the actual match experience. Other opinions are available, but give us the spectacle over the spreadsheet any day.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We consider that the field of play does not meet the minimum conditions required to play a match of the highest category. To this situation are added deficiencies in the facilities we use daily, such as the lack of hot water in the showers on certain days, cleaning that has not always been adequate and obsolete facilities that do not correspond to the standards required by a First Division club for a correct professional performance” – fresh and funky Rayo Vallecano players issue a collective statement bemoaning the state of the club’s Vallecas ground after their match at home to Real Oviedo in La Liga was cancelled hours before kick-off on Saturday due to an unplayable surface.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTER

Is Friday’s last line (full email edition) a link to Ian Holloway’s meltdown and Harry Enfield’s much-loved pub character Frank Doberman, whose pleasant mien gradually dissolves, finishing up in full-on rant mode? It was either that or the flat-capped ‘You don’t want to do it like that, did you?’ fella shaking his head at Jhon Durán’s latest career move to Russia” – Mike Kilner.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Rollover. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Join Max, Barry and the Football Weekly pod squad as they pick over the bedlam at Anfield and much more of the latest action.

STREETS OF RAGE

To the Maldives, where some alleged naughtiness has gone down in the Dhiraagu Dhivehi Premier League. Green Streets were staring relegation in the face before their final match of the season against New Radiant, knowing that a defeat by four goals or more would have sent them down on goal difference. However, under the Maldives FA’s rules, any team that fails to turn up for a game forfeits it 2-0 … which is just what happened, ensuring Green Streets stayed up. The club sent down instead, Club Valencia, have not taken the matter lying down and after winning their final match, immediately issued a statement accusing their rivals of “fixing the outcome of the match” with “disgusting” behaviour. Green Streets, who denied any allegations of intentionally forfeiting the game, have been hit with a transfer ban but, crucially, the result has been allowed to stand.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Erling Haaland reckons Manchester City’s dramatic 2-1 win at Liverpool meant more than just the points and represented a statement from the club in terms of the Premier League title race. “Look at the emotions with the fans in the end,” he roared. “It was amazing. They deserve it after supporting us week in, week out. Yeah, they definitely deserve to win at Anfield.”

Eddie Howe says he would offer Newcastle his resignation if he believed he was no longer the right man to lead the club, after they slumped to 12th. “The momentum is against us at the moment,” he tooted. “We have to swing it back – the world can look a very different place within a couple of games.”

The heat is building around Fabian Hürzeler after Crystal Palace ended their 12-match winless run at Brighton. “It’s not an easy situation but I will absorb the criticism,” sighed the Seagulls boss. “I think it’s the hardest moment [of my career], but it’s also the moment where I try to get the most out of it, where I learn the most and grow the most. I will face this adversity and get through it.”

Watford are poised to appoint former barber Ed Still, assistant manager of Anderlecht and brother of Will Still, as their new boss.

And Barcelona have belatedly called time on their support for the €uropean $uper £eague, proposed in 2021, which means Real Madrid are the last club standing. Guess it’s time to book the open-top bus parade.

STILL WANT MORE?

Thirty years on from their epic rise to Serie B, ninth-tier Castel di Sangro’s story continues to inspire. Nick Ames went to mountainous Abruzzo to meet both the heroes of the 90s and today’s team.

Mondays = talking points. You can find 10 of them in our Premier League weekend review, while the WSL edition features a rare day off for Manchester City, a corner flag karate kick and … Madonna at Tottenham.

Points, pints and Ryan Reynolds: Sam Dalling on Wrexham’s Hollywood takeover, five years on.

Habib Diarra, Sunderland’s record signing, sits down for a chat with Louise Taylor to talk about adjusting to the north-east, Afcon pride, and learning from Patrick Vieira and Liam Rosenior.

Andy Hunter unpicks Manchester City’s first victory at Liverpool since lockdown, a win that was sealed with a kiss from Pep Guardiola.

There’s yet more VAR fun and games to discuss in Nicky Bandini’s latest Serie A column. Safe to say: Daniele De Rossi is not amused.

Luke Entwistle explains that even though Marseille dared to challenge PSG, the empire has struck back in style.

And St Pauli are planning their next miracle, as Andy Brassell reports.

MEMORY LANE

England cricketer Ian Botham rises highest for Firewall FC during their 2-0 Division Three victory against Gillingham at the Old Show Ground in December 1983.

LATE BUT WELL WORTH IT

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