The World Cup
by Tony Attwood
In November 2018, the Premier League clubs voted unanimously to introduce VAR in season 2019/20, pending testing. The testing was said to be fine and thus we are now in its third season.
And to help us see what impact this has had Sussex Express have very kindly published a list of gains and losses as a result of VAR rulings which we have taken and turned into a league table.
Their figures don’t actually tell us what the league would look like without VAR, just the points gained or lost by clubs because of VAR. So we’ve tried to fill in the gap by comparing what the table would look like without VAR and what it actually looks like now. In short, who wins, and who loses.
The key column is the final one on the rest which shows how much higher or lower a club is in the league because of goals allowed or disallowed by VAR. For Arsenal overall, VAR has made no difference. Without it we would have been top. Tottenham have dropped a place because of VAR – without it they would have been third.
The biggest winners are Liverpool who have risen three places through gaining no less than four VAR added points (one would expect nothing less from a side that has so few fouls called against it) and Fulham, also up three places. Those who suffer the most are Brentford and Aston Villa who have slipped three places because of VAR.
What the figures do show is that come the end of the season it is quite likely that one team will be relegated from the league because of points lost through a VAR decision which has turned a win into a draw.
| Team | No VAR Pts | Pos without var | actual Pts | Pts Gain / loss through var | Place change through VAR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 37 | 1 | 37 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 35 | 2 | 32 | -3 | 0 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 29 | 4 | 30 | +1 | +1 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 31 | 3 | 29 | -2 | -1 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 26 | 5 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 18 | 9 | 22 | +4 | +3 |
| 7 | Brighton | 23 | 6 | 21 | -2 | -1 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 19 | 7 | 21 | +2 | -1 |
| 9 | Fulham | 17 | 12 | 19 | +2 | +3 |
| 10 | Brentford | 19 | 7 | 19 | 0 | -3 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 17 | 12 | 19 | +2 | +1 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | 18 | 9 | 18 | 0 | -3 |
| 13 | Leicester City | 17 | 12 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | AFC Bournemouth | 18 | 9 | 16 | -2 | -2 |
| 15 | Leeds United | 15 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | West Ham United | 15 | 16 | 14 | -1 | -1 |
| 17 | Everton | 16 | 15 | 14 | -2 | -2 |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 14 | 18 | 13 | -1 | -1 |
| 19 | Southampton | 12 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 10 | 20 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
Here for the sake of comparison is the actual league table before the world cupy thing took over
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 14 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 11 | 22 | 37 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 14 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 14 | 26 | 32 |
| 3 | Newcastle United | 15 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 29 | 11 | 18 | 30 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 15 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 31 | 21 | 10 | 29 |
| 5 | Manchester United | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 20 | 20 | 0 | 26 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 14 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 28 | 17 | 11 | 22 |
| 7 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 23 | 19 | 4 | 21 |
| 8 | Chelsea | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 21 |
| 9 | Fulham | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 24 | 26 | -2 | 19 |
| 10 | Brentford | 15 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 23 | 25 | -2 | 19 |
| 11 | Crystal Palace | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 18 | -3 | 19 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 22 | -6 | 18 |
| 13 | Leicester City | 15 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 17 |
| 14 | AFC Bournemouth | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 18 | 32 | -14 | 16 |
| 15 | Leeds United | 14 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 26 | -4 | 15 |
| 16 | West Ham United | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 14 |
| 17 | Everton | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 14 |
| 18 | Nottingham Forest | 15 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 30 | -19 | 13 |
| 19 | Southampton | 15 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 13 | 27 | -14 | 12 |
| 20 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 15 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 24 | -16 | 10 |
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I, as well as a few other UA regulars, have suggested on more than one occasion that we do indeed appear to be getting a much more balanced outcome from VAR this season. It seems the mythical ‘it all evens out in the end’ notion that has been so elusive for us since VAR’s inception has finally made an appearance on our behalf. These statistics seem to bear this out. Even so it has to be remembered that these ‘hindsight’ re-evaluations are subjective and not objective.
The Real issue is, VAR is not used appropriately. Let’s be fair, if VAR was used correctly, we would have won at OT and at Southampton. we would technically be on maximum points. perhaps if i try to be balanced we may have drawn against liverpool had the handball been given as a pen. so overall we dropped 3 points but this is wasnt because of VAR calls but lack of it
Let arteta Build
As well as the Liverpool incident you mention we could easily of conceded a penalty and been down to 10 men at Wolves. But again, these are subjective decisions and that is simply my opinion on that particular decision.
I agree with you regarding the Man Utd and Southampton calls.
Thats why I suggest that overall, this season, the calls have balanced out.
But you make a very valid point, as VAR ‘non’ innervations don’t get included as either a good or bad call.
So, for instance team A could have 3 good penalty shouts that VAR don’t even look at. Do they even count as VAR decisions, let alone incorrect ones?
It’s a bit of a minefield to be honest. Still, I stick with my view that overall, we’ve had a fair rub of the green from VAR