Gary Lineker blasts VAR as 'unworkable' after Arsenal see penalty decision overturned against Newcastle United
Newcastle United v Arsenal was the type of game Sky Sports Super Sunday was made for, a thrilling game for the neutral and one that kept both sets of supporters on their toes.
Arsenal ended up winning the game thanks to two late goals after Newcastle had held the lead for almost an hour. Both sides played some pretty attractive football at times, and the tempo of the game never really died down.
However, despite the spectacle of the game itself, all the talk about the match is around the referee and VAR, what they did and didn't do that changed the flow of the game.
Two penalties were denied, one for each time, that on any other day with another referee or VAR could easily have been given. Without VAR, Arsenal's penalty stands, and Newcastle get ripped off because Jarred Gillett didn't award the handball at first, leaving the whole thing to VAR to sort out.
Gary Lineker says VAR can't win now
Mikel Arteta questioned why VAR got involved at all in the Viktor Gyokeres penalty decision, saying it wasn't a clear and obvious error, and it pains us to say it, but he's right. Fortunately, VAR did intervene and the penalty was rightly overturned, but as Gary Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast, just because the outcome was the right one, was there a real need to get involved?
“Pope did get a foot on it, I think there’s no question about that.
“This is the problem with the VAR. I sense it was probably not a penalty, I think he did get a foot on the ball and then Gyokeres sort of sensed he was going to touch him after that and threw himself in the air a little bit.
“But if it had been given and there hadn’t have been VAR, I don’t think anyone would really have complained.
“And this is where VAR cannot win in its current format, and I get bored of hearing myself say it.
“But it’s unworkable, VAR, because referees, VAR, you don’t know where the line is. One week it’s a high bar, then it’s a low bar, then it’s a slightly lower bar, and then it’s a higher bar.
“Because was that a howler of a decision? No. Was it the right decision in the end? Probably.
“But it comes to the point where you go, well, all we want is the right decision. But they’ve always said, this is not about re-refereeing in the game. But that is re-refereeing in the game.”
There's no putting the genie back in the bottle now
The trouble is, they've opened Pandora's Box now. VAR has been used to re-referee these decisions so often that had VAR not overturned that decision yesterday, Newcastle fans would have been going wild.
As Lineker says, they can't win with it. Even if they scrapped VAR completely, the broadcasters would still analyse every incident as if they were VAR and point out every wrong decision.
We all just have to hope that these decisions even themselves out throughout the season. We actually saw it in action yesterday when Newcastle got their penalty appeals turned down after VAR. Of course, we still ended up on the wrong side of things thanks to Gabriel avoiding a red card and then popping up with the winner on 96 minutes. And yes, I'm still bitter.
