VAR is here to stay, which means the rules have to adapt to suit the technology
Joe Willock of Newcastle United celebrates after scoring a goal before it was disallowed
Newcastle's Joe Willock celebrates after scoring a goal before it was disallowed(Image: Getty Images)
View 3 Images
It's easy to bemoan VAR. It feels like every week, at least one match is adversely affected by a decision from Stockley Park after an incident is replayed over again to make sure the joy is well and truly taken away from a goalscoring moment.
But no matter what we think of it, VAR is here to stay.
And in that case, the footballing authorities now have to come together to adjust the rules accordingly, especially when it comes to offsides.
Take Joe Willock's 'goal' against Tottenham on Tuesday night which was ruled out for what appeared to be his eyebrow ahead of the final Spurs defender. If it wasn't for that fact Malick Thiaw gave Newcastle the lead just minutes later, United could have been hugely aggrieved to see that rubbed out.
The laws of the game have been amended many times over the years, but the basic premise of offside is stop sides leaving players at either end of the pitch so the ball can be booted forward.
It was introduced to foster a passing, creative game, whereby sides had to progress up the pitch to fashion chances, and to give referees and their assistants any chance of implementing it, was adjusted to the modern version of the rule, whereby if a player is ahead of the last man, they are offside.
All well and good, but now the technology has overtaken the principle.
Where once it was down to pure eyesight, meaning a player had to be clearly ahead, now it's camera angles and computer generated images.
You cannot blame the referee, assistant nor those sitting in the video room at Stockley Park when the tech available to them can show a player's position to such accuracy that they can be offside by centimetres.
Willock - and the countless other players who have been caught in similar situations - gained no advantage. Not one Spurs player turned to appeal for a flag, which didn't come anyway.
There are those who will argue that rules are rules and as there is no opinion involved, as there would be for a red card challenge for example, that we should just accept it.
A VAR graphic
Joe Willock was offside by the smallest of margins(Image: X)
View 3 Images
Joe Willock's goal against Tottenham was ruled out for offside
Joe Willock's goal against Spurs was ruled out for offside
View 3 Images
Fair enough, as things stand the decision was right. So it's time to change the rules.
How about restricting it just the position of the feet or head for a start? Or that at least half of the body has to be in advance of the last defender.
I appreciate that could just throw up more conjecture, but surely it would be fairer and lead to fewer goals being ruled out for no good reason?
You almost feel sorry for referees having the chalk another effort out that no one in the ground had even considered would be anything but awarded.
Every side has had them go for and against them, but for the love of the game, it's time for the powers-that-be to come up with a solution which promotes goals, and not denies them.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings