No VAR is not a solution either

The advertising for the video assistant couldn’t have been better. As soon as the “Kölner Keller” is not in action, a series of bad decisions in the second round of the DFB Cup cause a lot of trouble for players and coaches. All the heated debates about abolishing VAR in recent weeks were reduced to absurdity on two cup evenings.

“I always miss the VAR, I’m a big fan of it,” said HSV coach Steffen Baumgart after the elimination at SC Freiburg (1:2) and a controversial penalty decision by Felix Brych, which is no longer checked on video could. “I think we should look at everything a little more positively. I think it’s a good decision. (…) From my point of view, it doesn’t destroy football, but rather makes it fairer.”

Rio world champion Miroslav Klose also supported the referees’ aid after his 1. FC Nürnberg’s 1:2 defeat at TSG Hoffenheim. “Everyone complains that video evidence takes so long. But in games like this you see that you need that too. This is detail football, little things make a difference. And if you can use that to help, it’s always an advantage,” emphasized the coach on ARD. Baumgart and Klose will meet again in the 2nd league at the weekend – with VAR.

The video referees could have reversed some wrong decisions in the second round – in the cup the VAR is only used from the round of 16 onwards. The unjustified penalty for 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1:2 at VfB Stuttgart), the suspected red card of Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha (0:1 at VfL Wolfsburg) or the offside goal by Bayern young star Jamal Musiala in the 4-0 win in Mainz.

“You don’t need VAR for that. We have a linesman for that. This is relatively clear, an easy situation to assess. The fact that he doesn’t see that… That’s not even close,” complained Mainz goalkeeper Robin Zentner on ZDF. His teammate Dominik Kohr thought referee Sascha Stegemann was wearing a Bayern jersey and claimed he had fouled him before the third goal. A VAR might also have rated his Rambo action against Musiala as red-worthy.

VAR or not – the truth is that the referees in the cup apparently didn’t have their best day. “Without VAR it’s even more obvious: quality is no longer there – unfortunately! Structural and sometimes personnel problems: errors are not addressed, criticism and help are dismissed/ignored – critical voices are discarded (me about age). How is it supposed to get any better? “It hurts…” ex-FIFA referee Manuel Gräfe complained on the internet platform X.

There was sometimes uncertainty among the referees without the protection on the screen. In the game between Hertha BSC and 1. FC Heidenheim (2:1), referee Robert Kampka only overturned the supposed equalizer in stoppage time after consulting his linesman. “If there is a foul somewhere on the field in a game, the linesman has to stop the game, and not when the ball is in the goal and he suddenly remembers that there was a foul before,” said Heidenheim’s coach Frank Schmidt at Sky.

But there are also other opinions. Frankfurt board spokesman Axel Hellmann found the cup game against Gladbach (2-1) “wonderful” without VAR, although Eintracht received a red card early on. “By the way, I would have said that too if we had lost,” said Hellmann.

The video assistant has been around in the Bundesliga since the 2017/18 season – and discussions about it have been going on for just as long. Handball, penalties, offside – hardly a game goes by without intervention. The criticism from fans is sometimes massive; the advocacy group “Our Curve” complains that the VAR takes away the immediate emotion from football.

Recently, a modification of the VAR was discussed

Recently, a modification of the VAR was discussed. The so-called video support could help and ties in with the idea of ​​a challenge. As is known from other sports, only the coaches are allowed to object to controversial scenes. Well-intentioned, until ripped-off coaches à la José Mourinho could use this tool at the end of the game to take time off the clock, say skeptics.

“The challenge is not a panacea,” DFB innovation director Jochen Drees recently told the dpa. Even then, the decision remains with the referee. “Many people probably think that the discussions would then stop. But I don’t think that’s the case,” he said. So the referees will probably continue to suffer.

“I’m looking forward to the weekend, when there will be VAR again,” said Kiel coach Marcel Rapp. I bet there will be some complaining again…