Yet another VAR decision unleashed an avalanche of debate following Arsenal’s dramatic victory over West Ham on Sunday.
Most pundits, commentators and former officials appeared to agree that David Raya was fouled before West Ham’s late equaliser was scored, leading to the decision to disallow the goal after a lengthy VAR review.
The ramifications of the call were enormous, both for Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes and West Ham’s relegation battle, so it was inevitable that the fallout would dominate football discussion afterwards.
Speaking on Sky Sports Gary Neville described it as potentially “the biggest decision in the history of VAR in the Premier League.”
We have now entered the familiar post-match dissection phase, where every angle, replay and interpretation is examined in forensic detail.
Yet during BBC Match of the Day’s discussion on Sunday night, one fascinating suggestion may have gone slightly under the radar.
Darren Cann’s idea could reduce set-piece controversy
Former Premier League assistant referee Darren Cann joined the programme to discuss both the VAR intervention and the wider issue of physicality during set-pieces.
Cann proposed a surprisingly simple solution.
During corners or attacking free-kicks, no attacking player would be allowed inside the defending team’s six-yard box until the ball had actually been kicked.
At first glance, it feels like a clever way to reduce the constant wrestling, shirt-pulling, blocking and obstruction that regularly causes controversy inside penalty areas.
The Premier League has long celebrated its physical nature, but that physicality also creates huge inconsistency when referees attempt to determine what counts as acceptable contact.
A rule such as Cann’s could potentially remove much of that grey area.
Would the rule actually work in practice?
Of course, implementing any new football law is rarely straightforward.
Ironically, in the exact incident involving Arsenal and West Ham, Pablo actually moved into the six-yard box after the corner had already been delivered before colliding with Raya. That means the same decision may still have been reached regardless of Cann’s proposal.
There would also be questions over how consistently such a rule could be enforced in real-time during frantic set-piece situations.
Football already struggles with offside debates, so introducing another technical infringement may simply create fresh controversy rather than removing it.
Still, perhaps it is an idea worth trialling.
If the Premier League genuinely wants to reduce the endless arguments surrounding set-pieces, pushing and goalkeeper obstruction, then testing a simple rule adjustment in selected matches could provide useful answers.
At the very least, Darren Cann’s suggestion has opened an interesting conversation.
Could a simple tweak finally reduce the chaos surrounding modern set-pieces?
Reader Opinion: Chris Godbold
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I seriously doubt if any truly significant change will be made.
That said, as I mentioned the other day, I wouldn’t want to be in that box once the ball got there. My thought is to not allow anyone, other than the keeper, in the box at any time until/if the defending team takes possession. I believe VAR would be able to use technology similar to what is used for the goal line in determining encroachment into the box if necessary.
You are right, nothing will change. It will be policed more, to get the right result. Not a major change to the rules, like vacate an area. That will never happen. And there is no reason for it to happen.
OT – Even though city130 won today and took a slight lead in GD, it might not be all a bad thing. If you think about it, we are getting the first consistent run of proper rest in quite a while and given there are only two games left against opponents who are inferior on paper, it could be a good thing that the team knows they have to stay focused for 2 more games regardless of the competition. Pressure can be a better alternative than taking the situation lightly because of a perceived advantage.
Not even an article. Waste of time, you can not change football like that. Its not upto the refs, they just follow the rules. It wasn’t a goal, it was a foul, there isn’t a problem?
Reggie fans are sick and tired of the scrummaging which takes place at virtually every corner.I made the same suggestion on JA about 3 years ago and i think it is entirely sensible and workable.Rules and regulations have been modified in sports over the years and I don’t see why Football should be immune to change if it improves the game for fans and makes life easier for Referees who are under more pressure from all quarters than they have ever been.On the same theme the current handball rule is a complete joke and whether a player is offside should be based on the position of his feet not any other part of his body.
They will not be changed because someone complains. I do not see the problem, if there is a foul, a foul will be given, if there isn’t it won’t. The concept will not change.
And the correct decision was made against WH, so that won’t change anything.
The problem is fouls are not given despite all the shirt pulling by both teams at corners, that’s what all the complaints are about.
Thats about opinion? You have to get it into context. You can not say, that the foul on Raya wasn’t a foul? It was, everything else wasn’t because either it was before the Raya foul and not deemed a foul or after the Raya foul, so isn’t a foul. Previous moans were not given as fouls. So there are two scenarios their. Either they were not fouls or they were missed? If they were not fouls, then they were not fouls. The problem with the general puplic is, they do not know the rules of football like referees do. Or if they were missed (IF) then there needs to be a reason why, they were missed. Until you get specific “fouls” that were “missed” and highlight them, you can not make a judgement. Just saying, fouls were missed before, is not good enough. And the bottom line is, things sometimes do get missed. Not often but they do. Probably because it wasn’t obvious, then according to VAR, it wouldn’t be changed because it wasn’t obvious.
The game is unwatchable with all the holding/interference allowed. Why are players allowed to reach out to impede the progress of an opponent who runs by them. Pulling jerseys. Why is that allowed?
“The Premier League has long celebrated its physical nature” Are You serious? 50% of the players throw themselves to the ground kicking and screaming.
So much fear about changing rules of a flawed game? Get on with it. Go see what the NHL did in 2002-03. The same fear about changing the rules and having the opposite effect….but no , it was a huge success to remove all the clutching and grabbing. This should be a great game with all these incredible athletes
Back to Zonal Marking@!!!🤣.
Did anyone see the penalty that Celtic got last night. Shocking decision by the ref as well as VAR. The ball traveled to far for it to have been the hand. What an absolute shocker of a decision.
It really does not matter whether they make that change or not. The real fundamental change that was made was the introduction of VAR. Now , because we are all ” refs ” , there is huge pressure brought to bear on any crucial decision whether its a goal scored or a nasty tackle. The level of scrutiny has gone through the roof. Im thinking that this visual examination of the game is here to stay…
I would also say that goalkeepers are not allowed in the opponents 18 yard area. I hate it when I see keepers go up and make an already crowded 6 yard and 18 yard area more crowded.
I think the suggestion put forward by Danny Murphy is a really good idea.
He proposes that, once the ball is PLACED down in the corner flag area, it determines that said ball has set the game in motion once again and players can then be penalised for shirt pulling etc etc.
He also gave the perfect reason why the six yard box suggestion was not a good idea, as it would end up just like the offside debacle – deciding if a players pimple is over the line by using VAR incorrectly.
Ken they can all say all they like. Football is a world sport, not just the prem. The problem (if there is one) may not be a problem elsewhere. They will not change the face of football because the prem is a bit rough and tumble at corners and set pieces. Plus, I do not see where all this is coming from, because the CORRECT decision was given. Thats got NOTHING to do with previous decisions or refereeing.
As with VAR Reggie, I think you’ll find the FA can introduce what rules they want – but they will have to play under uefa and fifa rules when English clubs play in their competitions.
Of course the correct decision was made against WHU, but something has to be done regarding the wwe style wrestling we are currently seeing in the PL at free kicks and corners.
I personally think Danny Murphy has the solution and I hope it’s adopted.
They can not change the rules of football? That is a world thing, not premier league.
The title says “a premier league rule change” that can not happen.
Reggie, yet here a penalty for handball is viewed differently than in Europe. In Europe it doesn’t matter if the ball rebounds off a part of your and then hits your arm/hand, it’s a penalty. Over here if that happens it’s not a penalty.
Thats interpretation?
‘Pablogate19’ as the rule to be called and referenced
Simply up the punishment for pulling and grappling with a straight red and the problem would be solved.