Or the outcome is so huge in the context of things that they took a few extra moments just to be sure, the offside was so so close. They have to be sure - otherwise it’s pure outrage and everyone screaming corruption.
The speed of outcomes has definately improved season by season.
Ah yes the good ol days. When genuinely contentious moments happened organically due to endless flowing football. When the ref saw what he saw and made a decision, and stuck with that decision. And sometimes there was outrage over his decision, and there was passion. And one set of fans felt that they were undone and the other set of fans felt that it was justified. What I would give to see football like this again, to see a call like this made and everyone having to live with it, and react to it. The best part about it was there was no waiting. It all happened in one moment and that was it.
As to the decision itself, well I can understand the viewpoint of the commentator, outraged by the decision. There's a lot to unpack on this tackle. First, the claim that Berg "clearly" got to the ball first. Well, lets go piece by piece. The through pass bounced through Berg's legs onto Sharpe, who possessed the ball and dribbled it forward back into direction of Berg who was closing down. So the ball was played forward by Sharpe, right into the path of Berg, who found the ball at his feet and kicked the ball through for a would-be corner kick right as Berg shoulder barges Sharpe and they both go down.
What did the referee see? He saw the shoulder barge, he saw Berg not playing the ball as much as he collided into Sharpe. Now, on the other hand, technically Berg did kick the ball right as they collided, but he didn't "clearly" get to the ball before they collided. From the replay, you can see that their upper bodies collided at about the exact moment as Berg kicked the ball. And it wasn't clear that Berg was actually even playing the ball. Yes he got to it, but only because Sharpe had dribbled it forward in his direction. If we're honest Berg couldn't avoid kicking that ball as it was directly into his path.
So the reason for the instinctive decision by the referee to call a penalty and send him off was due to the shoulder barge, the actual impact of his upper body into Sharpe was what he saw. The fact that Berg kicked the ball forward, technically getting to the ball right as that impact happened makes it a difficult call.
I personally think that the best decision there would have been to not call a penalty and allow it to go for a corner kick, given that they both were converging on each other and arguably brought each other down. And the fact that Berg did get his foot on to the ball right as that was happening, though he didn't get his foot onto the ball "clearly" before the impact nor was it clear that he was actually playing the ball. It could also be fairly and reasonably be interpreted as the referee did, that he simply found the ball at his feet and that his upper body smashed into Sharpe in a manner that brought him down.
Now imagine for a moment that this went to VAR review, what do you think would be the result? If I had to guess, I would bet that they would see the shoulder barge and uphold the referee decision of penalty, maybe they would reduce the red to a yellow, but they would probably still give the penalty due to the way Berg was coming in hard in the upper body, and seeing that although he got his foot onto the ball, it wasn't "clearly" before the shoulder impact, and he wasn't clearly making a play on the ball, but rather that he just found the ball at his feet from the dribble from Sharpe.
So for all the outrage there, VAR wouldn't necessarily have overruled the decision and made it a corner. I personally saw nothing wrong with the referee giving a penalty and sending him off, though I would say it was a bit harsh but I wouldn't call it a howler.
The referee saw the way that Berg rammed into Sharpe with his shoulder who was dribbling through the box and he lost his opportunity for a shot on goal. Berg could have slide tackled that ball forward not and not brought Sharpe down and it would have been a corner.
In conclusion, this was a contentious decision, a decision that you could reasonable argue should have been a no-call and a corner kick, but that kind of collision in the box (pre-VAR or with VAR) generally would always cause a foul to be a called, and since the attacker was dribbling into the box he had his goal scoring opportunity taken away from him.
While I personally would have preferred to see a no-call be given here, I have no issue with the referee's decision. Seeing a dribbling attacker entering the box and then being brought down, it's hard for a referee not to call that a penalty in real-time. Again, harsh but not unreasonable given how hard Berg went into Sharpe with his upper body who was merely trying to maintain his dribble forward into the box. Berg did get his foot on to the ball and kicked it forward right as that collision was happening, but not clearly "before" the collision as was argued by the geuninely emotional and passionate commentator, which was fun to see.
See the way that commentator reacted to that is what is missing in today's football. There's no longer genuine passion like that. That kind of passion and ballsy refereeing what is missing in the sport we all love. And I love seeing the players protest and the referee standing his ground and pointing to the spot.
I think it’s good to bring balance to a thread that only focuses on outrage when there’s a controversial decision.
I understand the downsides, notably the small delay at times can be frustrating- but that’s got to be worth it when you see the joy and huge outcome it does for teams like Southampton , would of been cruel for them to be denied a win when we have the tech in place to get the right verdict.
It’s not a post, it’s a Thesis.I’ve just got home and it’s fair to say I’m, well a bit wired.
So taking that in mind I’ve gotta say the way peoples brains work never ceases to amaze me.
How somebody has managed to find the time or effort to make that post is batshit crazy.
I’m still unsure if I’m in awe or not, I’ll sleep on it.
Offside is not designed in this way, it is designed for a decision to be made by the linesman in real-time. That way whatever is called, is what is given, so if offside is called, you go forward onto the next sequence of a free kick. There's no waiting to see if he was he really offside, that whole idea doesn't work in the manner in which offside works. I understand your position of trying to make the best of the current situation and look at the bright side. On the other hand there's no good outcome as it pertains to offside because you can never get back what was lost from a wrong call lets say that would be reversed upon review. You've already lost the original sequence that would have existed had it been called in real-time, rightly or wrongly and in either case there would be a different outcome than the post review outcome which creates a different event.Or the outcome is so huge in the context of things that they took a few extra moments just to be sure, the offside was so so close. They have to be sure - otherwise it’s pure outrage and everyone screaming corruption.
The speed of outcomes has definately improved season by season.
Commentary and context was needed to evaluate the tackle. Claims were made that were not quite accurate and the impression was that this was such a howler or a clear missed call that would have been solved by VAR and the fact is it wasn't. It was absolutely critical to go through the sequence in detail and break down what happened in order to show why it was a perfectly good decision by the referee, albeit harsh and contentious, but certainly justifiable. VAR proponents attempting to spin or twist the situation into making it out to be a howler in order to justify VAR is disingenuous. This was a situation that illustrates just how much better football is the normal way and how the current sport is void of fun and intensive situations like that. I mean, lets face it, whether you like VAR or not, referees have been essentially stripped of their manhood in this environment. Of being second guessed with nerds in their ear telling them to run over to a monitor like a school boy. It's embarrassing and the whole way in which football has been robbed of its soul and essence through this technological monstrosity needs to be called and essentially forced out of the sport, in order to bring football back to its essence full of its normal charm and natural flow.It’s not a post, it’s a Thesis.
Lets start with your interpretation of the sequence. Is that a howler in your mind, and is that something that you personally believe VAR would have solved? If your answer is yes to either of those questions, I think an explanation is appropriate. And if it the answer is no, then why is it being used as a means to argue that VAR is needed or was needed then? In reality, you look at that, you watch it and you wish football was still like that, you don't watch it and go oh man if only there was VAR. That's actually mad to do that, trying to even imagine how VAR would have handled that situation, or how that referee's authority would have been affected, I don't even want to think about that, because that's part of the horror that VAR has done to our brains. VAR has made us look back to classic moments from the past and think that something was wrong back then, when in reality it's now that something is wrong, back then it was actually exactly how it should have been. And that's another thing, we've totally forgotten about a time when watching football actually felt right, even when there was something that happened that was wrong, the overall experience and way in which it was played and how it flowed gave it legitimacy and made it immersive. The current product any way you slice it, is not like that anymore and that's a big problem. So when looking back we have an obligation to actually point out where these VAR people are wrong how they actually forgot how football works, how we remember. That's how we return football to normal.I’ve just got home and it’s fair to say I’m, well a bit wired.
So taking that in mind I’ve gotta say the way peoples brains work never ceases to amaze me.
How somebody has managed to find the time or effort to make that post is batshit crazy.
I’m still unsure if I’m in awe or not, I’ll sleep on it.
Offside is not designed in this way, it is designed for a decision to be made by the linesman in real-time. That way whatever is called, is what is given, so if offside is called, you go forward onto the next sequence of a free kick. There's no waiting to see if he was he really offside, that whole idea doesn't work in the manner in which offside works. I understand your position of trying to make the best of the current situation and look at the bright side. On the other hand there's no good outcome as it pertains to offside because you can never get back what was lost from a wrong call lets say that would be reversed upon review. You've already lost the original sequence that would have existed had it been called in real-time, rightly or wrongly and in either case there would be a different outcome than the post review outcome which creates a different event.
If they’re saying VAR is wank then so do I.I think I agree with you :)