Arne Slot is right about the Premier League but VAR is to blame - and it's about to get worse

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Whatever your assessment of the job he is doing at Liverpool, Arne Slot normally has an interesting take on most footballing issues. And while a lot of TV pundits defend the standard of the Premier League - in terms of the quality of its football - the Liverpool manager has a refreshingly straightforward view.

“Most of the games I see in the Premier League are not for me a joy to watch,” he says. It must be stressed that Slot still believes the Premier League is ‘great’, adding: “It is always interesting because it is so competitive. That is what makes this league great because there is so much competitiveness. Everyone can win against everyone.”

That is not really true. Excluding the game against each other, Burnley and Wolves have played FIFTY-SIX matches between them and won a combined FIVE.

Technically, everyone can win against everyone, but, realistically, the outcome of a match between a top team and a lower team is predictable. But you get where Slot is coming from.

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The Premier League has packed arenas. A lot of physical commitment and a lot of very good individuals on show. Games are occasions but they ARE becoming less of a joy to watch, particularly on television, particularly for the neutral.

And the increasingly reliance on set-pieces for attacking threat is not the sole reason for that. In fact, it is not the biggest reason. The biggest reason is VAR.

I watched the Manchester United-Crystal Palace with a couple of mates in a pub on Sunday. Seriously, during the VAR stuff over the penalty, all three of us lost any interest in proceedings.

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The new guidelines will empower VAR to overturn a second yellow card if it is an obvious mistake by the referee. That way, the player is not sent off. But what happens if the second yellow card is justified but the first was an obvious mistake? That poor player has to go. That is just wrong.

And as for the corner-kicks? They say it will only intervene if it is obvious an error has been made and that correcting it will not interrupt the flow of the match. But they said that from day one of VAR, and look what happened? Anyway, what about throw-ins deep in attacking areas? They are becoming as important as corners.

Here’s a question. Have you heard anyone - player, manager, pundit, fan - be so incensed by a dodgy second booking or an erroneous award of a corner that they think VAR should get involved? No. Never.

These people introducing these VAR add-ons are giving themselves something to do. And, unfortunately, that something to do is turning football into less of a joy to watch.

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