For some though, it is simple – rather than VAR being a solution for wrong decisions, they would argue officials just need to get things right.
When asked on Match of the Day Live whether the errors at Villa Park put him in favour of VAR, ex-Newcastle striker Alan Shearer, said: “No. I would like the officials to do their job properly. It is not too much to ask, is it?
“If you ever needed any evidence of the damage that VAR has done to referees, I think Saturday is a great example of that.
“These guys look petrified to make a decision because they didn’t have a comfort blanket.
“For me, [referees’ decisions] are actually getting worse.”
Former Newcastle and Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given added on Match of the Day: “It shows you why we use VAR. A lot of decisions the officials got wrong at Villa Park. VAR is like a comfort blanket for referees.
“The decision is taken away from the officials. The linesman has been told all season not to put their flag up, so their brain has been trained. I think it shows VAR is a help even though we complain about it most weeks.”
When asked whether football had become too reliant on VAR, Howe had some sympathy with the argument.
“There is an argument to say yes,” he said. “Because when VAR is there, there is a tendency to think ‘oh well I won’t give that because VAR is there to check it’.
“Then your decision making isn’t as sharp as it would normally have to be. Maybe there is a difference there. I would probably say you are right in that respect.”
But former referee Graham Scott feels it is unfair to claim officials hide behind VAR.
“I really don’t think that’s fair,” he said on the Wayne Rooney Show.
“Obviously I work with them closely and I know these guys and they’re not like that. It’s not how their minds work, not how their processes work.
“I spent half my career with VAR and half without it – the other way around of course, without it first.
“And then when I was in the Premier League I was still dropping into the Championship quite often. So you’re in and out, in and out. And your processes essentially stay the same.
“What has changed though is with VAR you don’t have that spell in a game where you know you’ve made a really big error and you now have to reset and go again.”
