Sean Dyche has claimed one aspect of VAR is truly pointless after Everton’s draw with Crystal Palace.
Everton were left frustrated after another controversial VAR decision went against them in yesterday’s 0-0 draw to Crystal Palace.
The Toffees headed into their FA Cup third round clash at Selhurst Park off the back of four games without a win, littered with questionable conclusions that went against Sean Dyche‘s side.
Everton saw a goal disallowed for a very soft foul from Andre Gomes in the defeat to Tottenham, before Man City were given a penalty for handball five days later.
Perhaps the most controversial of them all resulted in Dominic Calvert-Lewin‘s dismissal last night.
The game was initially played on when Calvert-Lewin went in for a tackle on Nathaniel Clyne, with nobody batting an eyelid.
However, VAR decided to bring it back for a review and eventually referee Chris Kavanagh was sent to the monitor and sent him off for a studs up foul – a decision that sent social media into a frenzy and left Tony Bellew labelling it ‘disgraceful’.
Calvert-Lewin may now have to serve a three-game ban, meaning he would miss games against Aston Villa, Fulham and the FA Cup replay against Crystal Palace.
It would be a surprise if The Toffees don’t appeal the decision, with Sean Dyche already making it very clear what he thinks.
On referees being sent to the monitor, Dyche said: “I have no clue what that’s there for. Every fan – I hope I’m not just speaking for myself – there must be every fan out there thinking what is the point?
“We all know the outcome, the outcome is they’re going to agree with everything they have been told. Unless someone can tell me ten incidents that aren’t… I can’t think of one.
“I don’t know what the stats are, but the chances of something getting turned over are miniscule, so why do they even bother? We know what’s going to happen, can we just get on with the game?”
So what are the stats?
We tried to find the stats that Sean Dyche was talking about, because we are all well aware that the referee heading to the monitor means he is going to agree with whatever VAR has told him.
While not very recent, The Sun reported in January 2022 that in that season, there had been 49 occasions when referees had been told to go to the monitor, and all 49 decisions had been changed as a result.
This differed slightly from the previous campaign, where referees went to the monitor on 87 occasions and five of those sticking with their original call.
It comes as a direct result of the PGMOL telling officials that the ‘higher threshold’ for interventions meant refs would only be told to go to the monitor when they have made a clear error.
This automatically puts officials under significant pressure as they could risk getting in trouble if they go against the VAR’s decision.
Receive a digest of our best Everton content each week direct to your mailbox
