VAR shambles highlights English football's obsession with chasing more when it should be aiming for better - Stuart Rayner

Like Oliver Twist if he were not hungry but so fat he needed a mobility scooter to come forward to ask for seconds, English football always seems to want more.
Stuart Rayner
By Stuart Rayner
Published 5th Oct 2023, 06:00 BST

What it really needs is better.

The Premier League is currently discussing how to crowbar more live games into its next television deal to get more money.

Two hundred a season is not enough for them, nor is £4.8bn for a TV deal which so outstrips its rivals it distorts European football, so another 70 look set to be lumped in.

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VAR VILLAIN: Darren England was in Stockley Park for the controversial Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool game the day after flying back from refereeing in the United Arab EmiratesVAR VILLAIN: Darren England was in Stockley Park for the controversial Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool game the day after flying back from refereeing in the United Arab Emirates
VAR VILLAIN: Darren England was in Stockley Park for the controversial Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool game the day after flying back from refereeing in the United Arab Emirates

The clubs have more money than they should be able to spend yet still clubs like Manchester United pile up irresponsible debt and HMRC investigators this week clawed back £124.8m in unpaid tax from Premier League clubs for 2022-23.

Next season 10 live Football League matches will be shown every weekend as they look to narrow the financial chasm.

All these games presumably need exclusive timeslots which means more stupid kick-off times messing about with fans' travel arrangements and players' body clocks.

Next season the Champions League will get bigger too, the group stage replaced by a format with double the games, plus play-offs for another 16, before the last-16 phase.

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BROKEN: Lionel Messi has already been worked to the point of injury by Inter MiamiBROKEN: Lionel Messi has already been worked to the point of injury by Inter Miami
BROKEN: Lionel Messi has already been worked to the point of injury by Inter Miami

Women's football had a dangerous turnaround between the World Cup and Nations League considering its injury issues.

Major League Soccer has only had Lionel Messi for just over two months, and already seem to have broken him, missing Inter Miami's US Open Cup final after pushing him through too much of his first 12 games so as not to disappoint fans only there to watch one of football's all-time greats.

Premier League injuries are off the scale.

This week, we learnt the damage is not only to jaded players.

After Darren England and Dan Cook made an almighty mess of being video assistant referees on Saturday, it was revealed they had spent their Thursday refereeing in the United Arab Emirates but were in Stockley Park on a day where if they had been Premier League players, they would not have been allowed to play.

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But it meant more cash for the pair, and Michael Oliver. The pool of officials is one area where more would be welcome but they need to be better too.

England and Cook's calamity brought yet more apologies – something we could definitely do with fewer of – and was another reminder that the multi-million-pound VAR system is not enhancing the game. Yet still those who do not have it – from Championship managers like Hull City's Liam Rosenior to England women's captain Millie Bright – want more of it.

We need to get it working much better first.

It is all feeds into the greedy mindset which sees Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri blaming not enough fans for Hillsborough's ludicrous ticket prices. Vice-chairman Tan Kesler recently told The Yorkshire Post, the bums on seats which followed cut prices at Hull City attracted a blue-chip sponsor, on top of the on-field benefits.

Better, not more, needs to be the aim.

Related topics:Premier LeagueStuart RaynerVARLionel MessiEnglandMillie BrightChampions LeagueDejphon Chansiri