one huge problem is the relationship and communication between the on field officials and the VAR. Firstly, they are all mates and completely aware of the pressures each are under so often play it safe. I am sure that the nature and quality of the pile ons from different fan-bases is well known to them and influences them on a sub-conscious basis. No one really cares about Wolves or Palace (sorry) so they tend to lose out on the marginal decisions against bigger clubs. The dynamics are different of course when the larger clubs play each other. A better system would have completely separate specialist VAR refs doing it all the time and not being best mates with the on-field officials.
Secondly, the test for intervention is fucked up. “Clear and obvious” is a high standard of proof - but what if the ref has not seen the incident ? When this system came in I thought it would be open to on filed refs to self-refer certain incidents without prompting from others just to make sure that he saw the whole incident from all angles. The system would have much more credibility if the ref himself wanted to check things rather than being sent over when the ‘clear and obvious mistake’ decision - i.e. the appellate or Tier 2 decison has already been taken and leaves the chap plodding over to the screen with nowhere to go. The system would have far more credibility if the test was the VAR team see a probable case for review and simply invite the ref to look again without gaming the review by telling him what they think. You can almost see some of them reluctantly give a marginal penalty in review against their better nature because they have been told to do so by the VAR ref. They should just simply shut up and say please have a look at this because you may not have seen it clearly.
Thirdly, there is no really satisfactory answer to the hand-ball question. Years ago John Terry would seek to block shots by aping an eagle about to take off in the knowledge that if it hit is hand that would be ‘ball to hand’ and no pen. hence the shift to unnatural positioning. now we have deflections at high speed onto the arm given as a pen where there is no intent at all, reckless or otherwise which means the pendulum has gone too far the other way. there is not much of a happy medium which can be applied consistently - we have live with one extreme which is ok if it is applied consistently - which it isn’t!
