Souness demands Premier League make VAR change after referees left “embarrassed”
Graeme Souness has called for a hand-picked squad of ex-players to stop the haemorrhage of VAR howlers.
The Liverpool legend says the catalogue of VAR blunders this season has “embarrassed” referees and said: “They need help – oh boy, they need help – but it’s there if they want it.”
Souness, 70, believes experienced former players who know the tricks of the trade, notably the intent involved in collisions or challenges where opponents are reckless or spiteful, should be involved in the decision-making process at Stockley Park.
At the weekend, there was more embarrassment for referees’ trade union PGMOL when Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic was lucky not to be sent off for a poor tackle on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard following a VAR check.
Minutes later, referee Michael Oliver handed Kovacic another lifeline when the Croatian midfielder caught Arsenal’s £105million record signing Declan Rice with an ill-advised lunge.
Kovacic’s first offence looked at least as bad as the challenge for which Liverpool’s Curtis Jones was dismissed just across north London at Tottenham eight days earlier. And at Brighton, Pascal Gross was fortunate not to be sent off for denying Dominik Szoboszlai a clear goalscoring opportunity when conceding a penalty.
Souness, speaking to promote Sky Bet’s Real Football No.1s initiative, said: “I think there’s a place for VAR – there’s technology in every other sport like cricket. Where I think football has gone wrong, is still going wrong and will continue to be wrong, is that we don’t involve ex-players.
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“I’m not suggesting all former players could do it, but certainly some of them could join the VAR officials in that place near Heathrow and help them – because they need help.
“All that VAR has done to referees is to embarrass the life out of them and show them up for not being terribly knowledgeable about our game. Every referee will know the first sentence on the very first page of the rulebook, the last sentence on the last page and arguably every sentence in between.
“But what they are not very good at is when players come together and seeing who’s instigated the foul. On the first weekend of the season, you’ve got the Manchester United goalkeeper who comes out and clatters the Wolves player – if that happens anywhere else on the pitch, it’s an immediate red card.
“The referee didn’t call it, and when the VAR looked at it he didn’t call it, either. It beggars belief. And when Alexis Mac Allister was sent off for Liverpool (against Bournemouth ), how is that a red card?
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“They just consistently get it wrong because they have not got the experience of being on the pitch and seeing who has intent (to commit a foul) and who doesn’t. An ex-player’s intuition and knowledge of the game would be such an asset in reaching the right decision.
“Oh boy, the VARs need help. They might get suspended, and spend a weekend on the naughty step, but when they come back they are no wiser. They need help – and it’s there if they want it. Give them some help.”
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