Former England star, Gary Lineker has provided his thoughts about VAR following the decision Aston Villa and Alex Moreno dealt with vs Everton.
It was an afternoon to forget for Aston Villa as they travelled to face Everton at Goodison Park this weekend.
It was the first Premier League 0-0 that Unai Emery has managed in his career and there was a lack of quality chances.
Although Everton did have two great ones through Dominic Calvert Lewin and James Garner, Emi Martinez was more than up to the task.
The controversial moment happened as Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Leon Bailey combined from a short corner. The Villa skipper found his Jamaican teammate who looked offside on first inspection but wasn’t given.
This then saw him find Alex Moreno on the edge of the box who lashed it into the bottom corner with a great effort.
After the goal went in an immediate check was done by VAR and this is what caused issues and complaints.
Gary Lineker anecdote on lengthy VAR check
The goal was superb, there is no doubt about that. The effort from the Spaniard took to the corner like an arrow from range.
When it was looked into further, there was two potential offsides and a foul for the VAR team to review. With that being said, if one of the three was true then the others didn’t matter. Surely?
First, Bailey was checked for offside which looking at the replay, it looked to be pretty clear-cut even with the naked eye.
This didn’t stop them from taking a look to see whether or not Clement Lenglet had fouled Arnaut Danjuma in the build-up. They then checked to see if the Frenchman was offside and obstructing the view of Jordan Pickford.
The question is, if Bailey was offside in the first place, why did the other checks need to be made?
Whatever the reasoning, the check took three minutes and 45 seconds, according to Sky Sports, which is just far too long.
This was a point of annoyance for Gary Lineker who took to Twitter to voice his opinion regarding the lengthy check.
On that, he said: “Saw there was a VAR check so thought it would be an ideal time to walk the dog. They were still looking at it after we got back…. slight exaggeration but, I mean, really? So bored with it.”
While he is clearly joking, the meaning behind what he is saying is true and an opinion that is shared by fans. Leaving supporters in the dark while they take an age to make a clear cut decision isn’t washing with them.
There is no doubt that VAR needs to be improved and consistency needs to be maintained across the board.
