The Newcastle United vs Arsenal audio checks commentary is box office, but it underlines just how far VAR still has to go
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Four minutes watching and listening to five people unpick three, possibly four infringements. Captivating but also, chaotic.
"The process was correct," Howard Webb told Michael Owen while discussing Anthony Gordon’s goal vs Arsenal during Match Officials Mic’d Up, a Premier League Productions programme that analyses big VAR decisions. Some will agree with Webb, some won’t, but I think most will agree that the process is far from slick.
If Webb is being honest it is probably miles away from the standard he wants it to be at. It’s also lightyears away from it being integrated into live match commentary, like rugby and cricket, which some supporters have been calling for. So far in fact, it’s probably not even a consideration at this stage.
Listening to officials run through these checks reveals just how much is going on. It’s hard not to sympathise with the individuals involved, particularly as a mistake in the VAR room a month earlier during Liverpool vs Tottenham ruined a colleague’s reputation and focused the microscope on VAR more than ever.
The audio of the checks is, at times, like listening to a bunch of teenagers playing Fortnite - there's so much chat. As the minutes tick by, additional hurdles present themselves: for example, the goal line technology camera doesn’t cover the area of the pitch where the ball may, or may not, have gone out. This leaves the VAR and AVAR to make a quick judgement call (not out) based on there being “no conclusive evidence that the ball is out of play”. The officials need evidence to overturn a decision and they simply don’t have it. So they stick with the on-field decision and move on.
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Next they begin to check the challenge by Joelinton on Gabriel at the back post, and in the middle of that the on-pitch referee throws in (presumably prompted by Arsenal players) that “there could be a hand ball in there as well”. VAR Andy Madley meanwhile suggests he doesn’t “see anything of a push that warrants him [Gabriel] flying forward like that.”
Only after that do they begin to analyse the possibility of handball and in the middle of this check, Madley asks for confirmation that Joelinton is onside. Are they checking two things at once now? Who says men can’t multitask.
Here’s where the situation begins to stray into comedy sketch territory. The AVAR is also called Stuart. AVAR Stuart tells on-field Referee Stuart Attwell “Right Stuart, there is a potential for handball but it's not the goalscorer giving the handball.” To which VAR Madley adds: “No, it's not the goalscorer and it's not deliberate.”
Had Joelinton accidentally handled the ball in the build up the goal would’ve stood as he wasn’t the goalscorer. Had Anthony Gordon accidentally handled the ball the goal would’ve been disallowed as he was the goalscorer. My brain hurts.
While all this unfolds, the poor on-pitch ref Attwell (who has caused all this chaos by awarding a goal) is surrounded by players and clearly wants a decision sharpish: “talk to me Burty, how’s it looking?” he asks AVAR, Stuart.
AVAR Stuart then begins talking to the Replay Operator (unconfirmed if he is also called Stuart), asking for alternative camera angles as the plot has thickened: goalkeeper David Raya is the second rearmost player as he has come off his line to deal with the cross meaning Gabriel is now behind him. There's a potentially complicated offside call to be made.
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Working with the Replay Operator the VAR officials struggle to find an angle that shows when / if Joelinton makes contact with the ball which would potentially rule goalscorer Gordon offside.
They can’t find a clear angle so, again, no conclusive evidence. It feels like the issue of offside is almost glossed over, though it may be a moot point as the ball looks like it doesn’t travel forward off Joelinton (even if he did touch it) and Gordon is behind the ball anyway.
Finally, the on-field decision of goal is upheld. But what we’ve effectively been shown is four officials and a Replay Operator searching for evidence, failing to find any for two of the incidents (was the ball out, was it offside) while making a judgement call on the Joelinton push. With half a shout for handball thrown in there.
It’s unfair to compare VAR to the TMO process of rugby, but the simplicity and clear communication implemented in the oval ball game could at least be a benchmark. Rugby officials have the advantages of a big screen in the stadium to look at, whereas football referees have to scurry to a small screen at the side of the pitch where they are in earshot of irate fans.
I’m also not a fan of the use of nicknames in all of this, it gives unprofessional air. But it’s possibly a case of needs must if everyone’s called Stuart. Do rugby officials go this ‘matey’ during the big calls?
Crucially, rugby referees have something football officials don't: space and clarity to discuss the incident with their TMO colleague without being hounded by players. Solving the big screen and behaviour issues in football isn’t easy, but we should strive for it.
Let me finish with a hand grenade. I’m a Newcastle fan, I was at the game (watching from the corner where Joe Willock JUST about kept the ball in) and I think it was a foul on Gabriel. Bye!
A former goalkeeper, Ketch joined FourFourTwo as Deputy Editor in 2022 having worked across ChronicleLive, LeedsLive, Hull Daily Mail, YorkshireLive, Teesside Gazette and the Huddersfield Examiner as a Northern Football Editor. Prior to that he was the Senior Writer at BBC Match of the Day magazine. He has interviewed the likes of Harry Kane, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gareth Southgate and attended two World Cup finals and a Champions League final. He has been a Newcastle United season ticket holder since 2000 and has an expensive passion for collecting classic football shirts.
