This just my view, for what it's worth, on VAR in the wake of Sunday's episode. Sorry that it's a long read, but there's a fair bit to dissect.
If you go on any club forum you will read countless posts suggesting that VAR is rigged in some way and against their team. It's the same on an Everton forum, Man City forum (comical to me given how many decision they have had in their favour over the years) etc.
I don't think it's fixed or rigged, but I do agree with a poster on the KUMB Forum who suggested there's arguably an unconscionable bias towards some of the so-called bigger teams and elsewhere I think there's just sheer incompetence, as set out below.
With regards to the latter, a recent example would be the West Ham v Everton game. The handball by Mateus Fernandes: I think it was the VAR saying something like, no penalty it's a complete accident he's just trying to grab him. I thought "have they changed the rules"?
In practice, it made next to no difference as Everton scored almost immediately afterwards and the reason Everton kicked off was more to do with having had some very indifferent handball decisions given against them all season. So, it's a sore topic and more about that than this specific incident.
It goes right back to the non-award of a penalty when Rodri was doing the YMCA at Goodison Park - for me that was the worst handball decision in the history of the Premier League (funnily enough a Man City fan on their forum claimed it wasn't a penalty as Richarlison was offside in the build up).
At the time, PGMOL issued an official apology to Everton for the decision and even Dermot Gallagher said it was a penalty - funny how fans will make up stuff to suit their own narrative (but I digress). The interesting point is guess who was the VAR from that incident? Chris Kavanagh. Unconscionable bias, maybe?
I thought I was in the twilight zone with that decision until I watched the highlights of Brentford v West Ham and a Brentford player seemed to slip and completely clean out Tomas Soucek in the penalty area (which to me is completely irrelevant as free kicks are always awarded to the best of my knowledge from this same incident) yet a penalty was not awarded.
I thought "have they changed the rules, as that's a stonewall penalty!"?
West Ham have had some real rough VAR decisions this season. The worst for me being the Brighton game. A clear high boot on Mavropanos, hitting his face - nothing awarded and Brighton score to equalise in injury time. That decision on its own cost West Ham two points.
The Nottingham Forest game at the London Stadium. I still do not understand why the second West Ham goal was chalked off - the rule seemed clear to me, but they turned it around by claiming there was a different intention when the centre back knocked the ball onto the West Ham player.
I think the issue here is the wording of the rule. Why not just make it simple (which I thought it was) that when the ball deflects off the defending team the offside is from when the attacking team's player hit the ball - not when the deflection took place off the defending team's player.
Even so, from the current wording - which is ambiguous and open to interpretation - the goal should have still stood, from my understanding.
I don't understand how the Brighton foul was missed. The Nottingham Forest game, I would guess was just how they interpreted the unnecessarily overly-convoluted rule which ironically leaves it open to a subjective decision. The rule I described above is clear and easy to understand - so why change it!?
The incident against Arsenal, to me there's a clear foul on Raya but the question that has to be asked is was the holding and tugging by Trossard enough to constitute a foul, as this took place beforehand and materially effected the outcome of the Raya foul. If so, then that's a penalty.
I think the issue was a week before in the Everton vs Man City game there was an incident where Silva held and wrestled Royl to the floor from a corner. It started and carried on after the corner was taken (Royl still had both feet on the ground as the ball was in the air) until Royl ended up bundled to the ground.
No penalty was awarded and I think the justification to not award a spot kick was because the majority of the foul took place before the corner was taken, which doesn't make any sense as the process of the foul carried on after the corner had been taken! Anyway, I think this incident inadvertently increased the threshold as to what constitutes a foul from grappling and wrestling from corners.
The interesting point is who was the VAR in the Everton v Man City game: none other than Darren England.
I think the bar for what constitutes holding and grappling for a penalty was seemingly raised following the Silva incident against Everton and applied to the West Ham v Arsenal game which is surely contrary to the guidelines at the start of the season to clamp down on those incidents!
In other words, had the Silva foul on Royl been awarded as a penalty, then I think West Ham would have been awarded a penalty against Arsenal for the foul on Pablo by Trossard.
Also don't forget Chris Kavanagh was the referee in that infamous FA Cup game between Aston Villa and Newcastle without the use of VAR earlier this season when he got at least three big decisions wrong. And who was the VAR involved in the miscommunication during the Diaz non goal debacle between Tottenham and Liverpool? Yep Darren England.
Put simply, they are not up to it. It's not nice to say, but there have been so many examples of incompetence leading all the way back to the Rodri handball when Kavanagh was in control of VAR - they have got too many decisions incorrect and in my view, they should not still be officiating at the highest level.
In summary, I do not consider the league to be fixing games but I think the level of incompetence from certain officials is worryingly high without much accountability and there is arguably a pattern of an unconscionable bias at times towards the so called bigger teams to award VAR decisions in their favour.
Answers on a post card please for how the high foot foul on Mavropanos was not awarded against Brighton, though. That was the worst decision in the league this season in my view. Inexplicable.
On a sidenote, I watched a bit of a "Prem classic" last night - West Ham's 4-3 defeat against Tottenham at Upton Park in 2007 (sorry to bring back the memories, but I think you stayed up anyway!). I forgot how good Tevez was for West Ham and Berbatov's free kick was simply sublime, to be fair.
It was just nice to watch a game without worrying about a goal being ruled out due to a toenail or a subjective push etc. It's a shame that we can't return to a far more simple game. It was so much more enjoyable. Anyway, I hope West Ham stay up. Big game coming up against Newcastle...
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