Nemanja Matic has revealed his support for the Video Assistant Referee system caused controversy in Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Huddersfield Town.
Juan Mata appeared to have doubled Man United’s lead before half-time, but the goal was ruled out after consulting the VAR for around two minutes, with it deemed offside.
The controversial choice to go to VAR was made of greater significance after the lines to determine Mata’s position when the ball was played weren’t straight.
Matic said the idea of VAR is a good one, but that the implementation must be improved to result in quicker decisions.
“Two minutes is a long time on the pitch, but overall it will be good for football,” Matic said.
“It’s normal that referees make mistakes every game and they can refer it to TV, but it needs to be quicker. Other than that I like it.”
Many supporters of VAR are becoming less and less convinced it’s the right choice for football due to a number of poor uses of the system. All football fans would agree that if a decision could be taken instantly, then it should be used.
However, that is not, and can never be, possible. Thus, there will always be disagreements. Similarly, there is some disagreement over when VAR should be used. It is supposed to be used for clear decisions that must be corrected. A fractional offside decision is not that, but then the question of where the line is drawn is asked.
The controversy and debate over VAR will continue.