FIFA turning football into a sport played in four quarters. Seems bad!
(I am especially looking forward to these crucial "hydration breaks" taking place in indoor, climate-controlled venues. That'll make total sense)
I really hope there can be a sensible discussion about whether football moves away from VAR
It’s been a number of years now, these aren’t teething troubles anymore, this is an addition to the game that currently takes more away than it gives, with no prospect of that changing.
Yes, there’ll be more things missed, but things like spontaneity & flow contribute hugely to what makes football so great - the trade off, arguably, hasn’t been worth it.
We still get human error, and always will - it just takes a lot longer with VAR
I think, ultimately, the PGMOL and Howard Webb need to sit down and have a very hard think about how it is that they've intoduced officiating by slow motion video, but also now allow full scale fighting in the box at every corner. The two things don't work very well together.
Football had a monopoly on the single greatest moment of elation that existed in sport...and got rid of it in pursuit of a perfection that doesn't exist. Genuinely so shite
A six-minute VAR delay with 25 replays to decide which of the multiple set-piece wrestling manoeuvres was clearly and obviously worthy of punishment. A fittingly decisive moment for the 2025-26 Premier League season.
We should bring a system to the Premier League that allows referees to have a second look at big incidents in games to make sure they don’t make the wrong decisions every week.
Interesting that in the Everton points deduction verdict the Premier League said “A financial penalty for a club that enjoys the support of a wealthy owner is not a sufficient penalty” and that “the requirements of deterrence, vindication of compliant clubs, and the protection of the integrity of the sport demand a sporting sanction in the form of a points deduction’.
Presumably the Chelsea fine (which ultimately is just a deduction from what billion dollar Clearlake will pay to billionaire Abramovich from the £150m held back at the deal date) is then neither punishment, a deterrent or protecting the integrity of the sport?
If I was an Everton or Forest fan would not be happy with this outcome.
Marc Guehi’s signing will likely take Manchester City’s spending to ~£500m in the last 12 months.
All while we STILL await the verdict of their 115 potential financial breaches.
Ah yes. Seems completely normal.