On VAR, in public discourse there is often a demand for "consistency", which I think is simply the wrong target. When I play or watch a sport, I want the players to broadly follow the rules and the game to flow. If someone does something a bit borderline, it's fine to let it go. If a player or team does it all the time, they should be penalized to get them to stop doing it. There is quite a bit of room for the ref to use judgement, and I think that's completely fine. With VAR we somehow imagine that a different referee looking at slow motion replays can make objectively correct decisions, but many situations are up for interpretation anyway. Stuff like goal line technology is all positive, but VAR has clear negative effects for the live experience.
Good article. I would quibble about two things. One, according to Soccernomics and other sources, it’s hard to predict who will play well at elite levels until around age 20, with some exceptions proving the rule. But obviously it would be good to expand the pool by charging players less money in the US.
With VAR - I’m a fan - the problem is mainly the HUMAN inconsistency of when to use it (e.g., Egypt v Argentina). It might be a good idea to limit it to goals scored and give each team two “challenges” to use at their discretion to avoid the problem of when to call upon it.
Small correction: England never had a 3-0 lead on Mexico
I feel like people argue about practical reason all the time.
Also, football is a game where you win by scoring more goals than the other team. It was rationalized from the very beginning.
Seems like someone should read up on Wolfgang Iser and instrumental play.
You know a lot about football history. Congratulations. Intresting article.
Enjoyed reading it!
On VAR, in public discourse there is often a demand for "consistency", which I think is simply the wrong target. When I play or watch a sport, I want the players to broadly follow the rules and the game to flow. If someone does something a bit borderline, it's fine to let it go. If a player or team does it all the time, they should be penalized to get them to stop doing it. There is quite a bit of room for the ref to use judgement, and I think that's completely fine. With VAR we somehow imagine that a different referee looking at slow motion replays can make objectively correct decisions, but many situations are up for interpretation anyway. Stuff like goal line technology is all positive, but VAR has clear negative effects for the live experience.
You are a very interesting read. Congratulations on your content!
Good article. I would quibble about two things. One, according to Soccernomics and other sources, it’s hard to predict who will play well at elite levels until around age 20, with some exceptions proving the rule. But obviously it would be good to expand the pool by charging players less money in the US.
With VAR - I’m a fan - the problem is mainly the HUMAN inconsistency of when to use it (e.g., Egypt v Argentina). It might be a good idea to limit it to goals scored and give each team two “challenges” to use at their discretion to avoid the problem of when to call upon it.