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What happens if the A-League grand final is settled by the Video Assistant Referee? Would we be happy for the biggest game of all to be decided by technology?
Perth Glory coach Kenny Lowe looked like he was going to blow a gasket in his side’s 3-0 semi-final defeat to Sydney FC last weekend.
Why wouldn’t he, given that his side was on the wrong end of two crucial VAR decisions?
But were they on the wrong end? Technically the VAR got both decisions correct – even if Jordy Buijs’ goal was hotly contested.
Fox Sports commentator Simon Hill called the game in question, and the affable Mancunian came in off the long run during the week in describing the influence of VAR technology.
“In football, the VAR system is the modern form of compensation – for a mollycoddled world that sees injustice at every turn, and believes technology is always the answer,” Hill thundered.
“Coaches have led the way in this regard with their petulant behaviour on the sidelines,” he added for good measure.
I don’t often disagree with Hill – and I’m certainly not about to start here.
He’s right when he says the poor behaviour of coaches has largely gone unchecked, and he’s also entitled to question why Football Federation Australia would spend $500,000 on a VAR system when they’re supposedly skint.
But Hill hit the nail on the head when he described the most pernicious aspect of the VAR system – and it was somewhat evident last weekend – when he said that it takes away from the natural act of celebrating a goal.
“If the VAR system becomes a permanent feature, it will take much of the spontaneity out of the most joyous act on the football field – that of hitting the back of the net,” Hill said.
I was willing to give the VAR system a chance – not necessarily because I thought it would benefit the game, but mainly because I felt like its introduction was inevitable.
But having been used so extensively last weekend, I’ve already seen enough.
One of football’s strengths has always been the element of human involvement, with refereeing decisions said to even out over the course of a season.
The VAR system may diminish the scope for human error in a major clash like the A-League grand final, but as Hill rightly points out, it takes away from the spontaneity of the game as well.
It’s not the only contentious aspect of Sunday’s title decider, with the debate around the finals series refusing to die down.
The answer is simple: because that’s the system all ten A-League clubs agree to when they kick off every season.
I helped cover the 2011-12 A-League grand final for Grandstand – when Brisbane Roar came from behind to beat Perth Glory 2-1 in front of more than 50,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium – but according to their latest logic, one of our code’s most memorable fixtures shouldn’t even have taken place.
Instead, the Central Coast Mariners should have been crowned Australia’s best team that season – even better than Ange Postecoglou’s Brisbane Roar – and they should have been awarded the trophy in Round 25 in front of 9,000 fans in Wellington.
You’d think our national broadcaster might at least show some respect to history, but presumably we’re just supposed to ignore the 11 preceding A-League grand finals – not to mention no less than 20 National Soccer League grand finals – simply because that’s the way they do things elsewhere.
The ABC might suffer from a cultural cringe, but the finals series is going nowhere.
So too, it seems, is the VAR system.
How do we feel about it? Has it been used appropriately so far? Or does it have the potential to ruin the most important game of all?