Thread by @DaleJohnsonESPN

We need a thread about West Ham v Aston Villa and offside.

The Dutch "margin of error" is suddenly getting traction in the UK media. Which of course you'd have known about two months ago if you followed the Monday VAR thread.

This ain't a silver bullet, but it would be better.

There are a couple important things to debunk.

- "Thicker lines" is misleading
- Players will still be offside by an inch

Which feeds into this discussion between @GNev2 and @Carra23 on MNF, specifically to Gary Neville's point.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1333563497679101954

The Dutch used "clear and obvious" on offside until this season, opting to introduce Hawk-eye tech as a more accurate tool.

But the lines have NOT been made thicker. It's purely that if the final red and blue lines touch, the decision stays on field. Umpire's call.

The offside tech in the Eredivisie is the same as in the Premier League.

The red and blue lines are each 142 pixels, which equates to 5cm.

If the two lines touch, it's umpire's call. And this creates a 10cm margin of error on offside.

Let's be absolutely clear. The Premier League wanted to do this but was told it couldn't by FIFA.

Maybe if the Premier League had fully followed VAR protocol last season, and wasn't on FIFA's naughty list, it could have just done it. Because the Dutch didn't get permission.

I contacted the Dutch FA, and was told the Eredivisie is working with a 10cm margin of error on offside as an "operational decision by the league alone," so not done with FIFA or The IFAB.

The same is also true of the Danish Superliga, which you may not see reported...

The Dutch system got a lot of attention after last night's decision at the end of West Ham vs. Villa.

But I'm afraid Watkins would still be offside in the Eredivisie, because the lines don't touch. He would still be offside by an inch.

I think we have to go down the margin of error route to remove the really unpalatable offside decisions, and to show acceptance that the technology is not accurate enough.

But let's not kid ourselves that many of the offsides we think are tight would not still be given.

The issue with umpire's call is, of course, goals can be ruled out when the tech says the player is onside.

FC Twente had this goal disallowed by the linesman. VAR showed the attacker marginally onside.

Lines were touching so stayed as no goal despite the tech result.

This all relies on FIFA, which now controls the VAR project, agreeing that margin of error is the way to go.

Remember, Netherlands and Denmark have gone rogue, and UEFA isn't strict but doesn't say by what method.

All the top European leagues do offside the same as the PL.

The conversation over these marginal offsides is very much on the job sheet of the FIFA Working Group. FIFA fully accepts that they are an issue.

But the real question is whether it can be persuaded that margin or error is an acceptable solution.

I would add that the reason the Watkins offside decision took so long was because the VAR simply had to calculate the offside to two defenders.

Note that the second calculation to the far defender was to try and make Watkins ONSIDE after he was off to the closest defender.

This is why semi-automated offside, one of the key aims of the FIFA Working Group through to 2022, is so important.

It would make the calculation far, far quicker, and remove the "line drawing" of the VAR.

espn.co.uk/football/fifa-…

I won't get bogged down in the penalty claim, but I'll make a couple of general points about it.

Obviously, with what we've seen the last couple of weeks, and with the level on contact on the penalty against Rice, it seems it had to be given.

But devil's advocate. Would there be the same outrage had Watkins missed/saved and the goal not disallowed by VAR? I doubt it.

Also, the frame shared looks like a clear penalty. But in real time (1min 20secs). not slow-mo, does it seem so obvious?

https://twitter.com/SkySportsPL/status/1333544520559038464?s=20

I meant to add this info about the Dutch margin of error, taken from @parool in August. Quotes from KNVB referee coordinator Dick van Egmond.