The Premier League action saw another controversial VAR decision at the weekend as Manchester United midfielder Casemiro sent off in their goalless draw with Southampton yesterday afternoon, a decision that has been met with outrage by fans and pundits alike who claim that the Brazilian talisman was wrongfully dismissed.
Ten Hag has branded the decisions of VAR as “inconsistent” after a number of recent decisions that have gone against Manchester United.
Casemiro was sent off after his foul on Carlos Alcaraz but the decision has left people questioning what is and isn’t considered a foul in today’s game.
Whilst the midfielder did in fact get to the ball before Alcaraz, his forwards momentum meant that his trailing foot did make contact with his opponent and brought him down in what did appear quite a nasty collision on first viewing.
However, many are arguing that there was no way that Casemiro, could have avoided the contact and still got to the ball first, meaning he should have remained on the pitch.
A similar incident occurred when Scott McTominay was booked a few games ago for an almost identical incident.
These controversial decisions are once again sparking debates around VAR, specifically how affective it is at improving the game.
It seems now that every week games are being spoilt by a trivial decision, and Ten Hag believes the inconsistency is affecting his team.
United had a penalty shout of their own when Marcus Rashford was fouled in the box that was not given, but we have seen similar penalty shouts given on a number of occasions this year.
Whilst some believe that VAR should be scrapped, others have been coming up with some creative ways that it could be improved upon.
One suggestion from a fan on Twitter was to implement an NBA style challenge system, which would see each team given a certain number of opportunities to challenge the on field decision rather than every decision being checked.
There have been suggestions that the new offside system that was used at the World Cup will be implemented in the Premier League also.
This would certainly save time when making decisions, but the most contentious decisions seem to be fouls that are or are not given.
How the Premier League can mitigate these poor decisions remains to be seen, but until they do, it seems we will have to endure the frustratingly inconsistent VAR decisions that fans becoming increasingly with.
