Dale Johnson Profile picture
Nov 22, 2021 16 tweets 7 min read Read on X
A pretty quiet weekend on the VAR front, but here's your Monday thread.

Looking at:
- Overturned Man City penalty + possible Silva pen
- Watford's penalty + retake scenario
- Joachim Andersen possible red card
- Harry Kane handball?
There's no doubt it was the correct decision to overturn Man City's first-half penalty against Everton.

From the replay first angles, it looks like there was knee-on-knee contact between Michael Keane and Raheem Sterling. But there was none.

Image
This incident shows perfectly why a time limit on VAR reviews is NOT a good thing.

Finding the crucial camera angle isn't always a instant thing.

First replays suggested it wasn't a clear and obvious error - until the VAR, Chris Kavanagh, checked the camera behind the goal. ImageImage
Obviously, we want VAR to be as quick as possible, but also get the best decisions.

If this camera angle had been shown by Sky AFTER an arbitrary VAR time limit had elapsed, and the penalty stood, what would have been the reaction?

Yep, the usual "what's the point of VAR". ImageImage
Keane's later challenge on Bernardo Silva is a classic case of this season's interpretation.

Last season (think Welbeck v Liverpool) it's probably a penalty.

Now a ref should "ask if the contact has a consequence, and has the player used that contact to try and a penalty."
Referees should "consider consequence and the motivation of the player as well".

Keane certainly catches Silva on the foot, but there minimal contact.

Silva then goes forward a step before going to the ground. No penalty is the correct decision.
Now Watford's penalty vs Man United. First, the retake procedure.

There's no doubt that Kiko Femenia (21) was encroaching in the box when the penalty was struck, before scoring the rebound.

But why do Watford get to retake it? ImageImageImage
If a penalty is missed, and encroachment is by the attacking player only, the goal is disallowed and play restarts with an indirect free-kick to Man United.

But if there are players from both teams inside, no matter if they are involved in the play, then it's a retake.
While you can't see Aaron Wan-Bissaka's foot inside is the area, that doesn't matter anyway.

Bruno Fernandes is one of a few players with his foot on the line. The line belongs to the box. So he is inside.

Therefore, it has to be a retake.

(NB: leaning in doesn't count) ImageImage
In a situation like this, it seems incredibly harsh on the defending team.

The defenders have had no impact on the kick, yet they are essentially penalised for Femenia scoring the rebound.

If Femenia had missed the rebound, the VAR wouldn't have ordered a retake.
The VAR cannot allow a goal to stand when scored by an encroaching attacking player.

But if the rebound has been missed by an encroaching attacking player, the VAR wouldn't intervene as the offence it isn't an impacted penalty incident.

Agree this might sound contradictory.
On the penalty decision, Scott McTominay could easily have been sent off for not making a genuine attempt for the ball (still a red).

The VAR, David Coote, must have judged that the scoring chance / control of the ball wasn't certain for Josh King.

Ref gives red, it stands. ImageImageImageImage
While there is a degree of doubt for the McTominay red, the decision not to send off Joachim Andersen for his challenge on Chris Wood has to be an error.

Ref Simon Hooper was way behind play and didn't even give a foul. If a foul is given it's a certain red, Wood is in.
The only explanation is that the VAR, Graham Scott, didn't feel there was enough contact for it to be a clear and obvious error not to give the foul.

Admittedly, there actually isn't a huge amount of contact, but Andersen has both arms on Wood, and it seems a simple red card. ImageImageImageImage
Now the claim for a handball penalty against Harry Kane.

Kane has his arm close to his body and the ball is hit at him from close range. It's in the expected position for a player's action.

If his arm had been out away from his body, this would have been a penalty. Image
Finally, a note on Tottenham's first goal.

There was a check for offside, but Lucas Moura was behind the ball even if it hit Harry Kane and not Kalvin Phillips.

Also, if the ball hit Kane's arm, accidental handball by a teammate before a goal is no longer an offence. ImageImage

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More from @DaleJohnsonESPN

Jun 16
This does not bode well for Crystal Palace.

Drogheda also won the cup but are excluded from the Conference League due to ownership rules.

Sister club Silkeborg stay in because they finished 7th, with Drogheda (9th) removed.
The deadline for separating associated clubs into a blind trust was changed from June 1 to March 1 as of this year.

That's very harsh for a club such as Palace as they would have needed to do this after the FA Cup fourth round, which seems completely unrealistic.
Drogheda qualified for Europe last November, as cup winners.

But Silkeborg didn't qualify for the Conference League until June 1 through a playoff, three months after the blind trust deadline.

NB: no Irish club will replace Drogheda as there's no time to get a licence.
Read 5 tweets
May 28
REVEALED

The six non-English clubs in Pot 1 MUST play TWO Premier League clubs in the Champions League next season.

Real Madrid
Bayern Munich
PSG
Inter Milan
Borussia Dortmund
Barcelona

Impact is on these 6, rather than Prem teams.

HERE'S WHY 👇
espn.com/soccer/story/_…
Last season, Pot 1 teams played eight games in the league phase against English clubs.

They recorded recorded two wins, a draw and five losses.

This season, the 6 must play 12 games to meet the draw constraints caused by 6 Prem teams in the comp + 3 in Pot 1.
Under usual circumstances the composition of the draw pots doesn't matter anymore.

But this year, (for instance) Barcelona and Real Madrid may be forced to play Totttenham or Newcastle as one team from Pot 3 and 4, rather than, say, Slavia Prague or Bodo/Glimt, etc.
Read 4 tweets
Jan 8
That should have been a second yellow for Lucas Bergvall.

It wasn't an attempt to stop a promising attack, which wouldn't result in a caution if the move plays out.

It was a reckless tackle, and should have been a booking regardless of the attack. #TOTLIV
Ange Postecoglu is incorrect for three reasons.

1. Bergvall's offence is a reckless tackle, not stopping a promising attack

2. Advantage isn't applied on a second yellow unless it's an IMMEDIATE goal chance

3. Ref didn't play advantage. Said no foul

Ange is correct that there's no yellow for stopping a promising attack (SPA) if the ref plays advantage and the attack plays out.

But the law doesn't allow Stuart Attwell to play advantage even if he did view Bergvall's challenge as SPA. Play must stop and second yellow shown.
Read 8 tweets
Dec 3, 2024
Club World Cup explainer

🔺 How the 31 teams qualified
🔺 Inter Miami and Messi?
🔺 The old Club World Cup still exists!
🔺 Will it be competitive?
🔺 Player burnout?
🔺 Format
🔺 Match dates
🔺 Draw on Thursday
🔺 Venues
🔺 Trophy

READ 👇
espn.co.uk/football/story…
Club World Cup draw pots now confrimed.

- No group can feature more than one team from the same confederation except UEFA, with 12 teams
- Pot 1 will have paired seedings based on the confederation rankings
- Pot 1 teams go to position 1
- Inter Miami will play the opening match Image
The full match schedule comprising the stadium and kick-off time for each fixture will be finalised and published once the draw has taken place, taking into account a range of factors including sporting and player-centric criteria, local and fans and broadcast considerations.
Read 7 tweets
Nov 30, 2024
Ok, so FIFA has made a small, yet significant change to the protocols for the World Cup qualifying draw.

It could have an impact on each of the home nations, but potentially the greatest effect could be on Wales.

A thread to explain for the home nations. Image
What's changed?

Previously, all Nations League (UNL) quarterfinal (QF) and playoff (PO) teams in Pots 2, 3 and 4 were to be "in priority allocated to groups of four."

This has been removed. These teams now could potentially be in a group of five.

You can see the edit here. Image
Image
So, let's take a look at what this means.

For England, not a huge amount as they could always be in a group of four or five.

However, once England are in a group of four or five, they are, when Pot 2 begins, now able to draw ANY of the teams from Pot 2.
Read 16 tweets
Nov 20, 2024
Had clarification of World Cup draw conditions. We know a few more things.

- England 75% chance of group of 5
- Wales definitely group of 5
- Northern Ireland 85.71% chance of group of 5
- Rep of Ireland & Scotland definitely group of 4

Thread to explain, and here are the pots. Image
The specific conditions over the 4 and 5 team groups depended on the number of teams in each pot who needed a QF/playoff.

As the number is lower than 6 in pots 2 and 3, it can now be confirmed playoff teams in Pots 2 and 3 (Scotland, ROI) will definitely be in a group of 4.
There are 10 teams in Pot 1 who need a QF/playoff but only 6 groups of four.

The 4 "QF winners" automatically get a group of 4.

That leaves two groups of 4, and six groups of 5 randomly filled with "QF losers", Austria, Belgium, England, Switzerland.

What does this tell us?
Read 10 tweets

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