Liverpool Football Club and the supporters are in search for real change to be implemented after the miscarriage of justice that was Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal and now Joey Barton has had his say on events.
The Scouser took to X to write: ‘I would like ex-Pro’s to be on these VAR panels. We are allowing people who have never played competitive football to make huge calls under pressure.
‘They don’t fully understand the game, as evidenced by the current state our game is in. People who’ve played the game at an elite level, understand it as well as anyone’.
READ MORE: Howard Webb could implement rule change after events at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
It’s an interesting call from the current Bristol Rovers manager and he goes into more detail on this over a series of online messages and it’s important to note that this isn’t instead of VAR officials but as well as.
Meaning that a former player would be in the box with the head and assistant official that are overseeing the game from Stockley Park, something that could lead to improvements within decision making.
The only thing is though, who would you get to do it? We can all name several ex-professional players who would be terrible selections for this role and what would the incentive be for them?
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Surely the only people applying would be those who aren’t good enough to coach or aren’t very good at punditry and that would suggest that it’s not the finest minds that would be on offer.
The level of authority they have would also be an issue, as they could be easily outvoted by those already in a position of power and so their presence would often be unnecessary.
It’s an idea for change and something clearly needs to happen but it seems unlikely Howard Webb and the PGMOL would sanction such a change at this point.
You can view Barton’s thoughts on VAR via @Joey7Barton on X:
Can’t disagree Henry. Although, I would like ex-Pro’s to be on these VAR panels. We are allowing people who have never played competitive football to make huge calls under pressure. They don’t fully understand the game, as evidenced by the current state our game is in. People… https://t.co/jcFpsU5fie
— Joey Barton (@Joey7Barton) October 2, 2023