'Howard Webb, where are you?' - How we can stop VAR ruining football

"We are seeing players penalised outside the box for incidents that are nowhere near as blatant as the chaos we are witnessing in the six-yard box, and around the goalkeeper - so why is a foul in one part of the pitch, not a foul in this scenario? One of the things this chaos has led to is teams not defending properly now."

"As a manager, I spent as much time working on defending crosses coming into our box as I did on us attacking crosses off set plays. We are killing the art of good defending by allowing this to continue, and let me also say that set-play coaches should be ashamed at allowing their team to defend in this way."

"Well, how about common sense? That tells me that if the referees start dishing out penalties and red cards, then it would not carry on."

Set-play chaos at corners has reached unacceptable levels, with defending players holding attackers around the waist while ignoring the ball delivery—clear fouls that go unpunished. Referees apply stricter standards elsewhere on the pitch for less obvious infractions, creating inconsistency. This leniency has eliminated proper defensive technique, as teams no longer need to defend properly when they can commit fouls without consequence. PGMOL leadership must provide clear instructions to officials to enforce rules uniformly. Set-play coaches bear responsibility for allowing such defending. Consistent penalty and red card enforcement would immediately stop this behavior. Additionally, managers face unfair treatment regarding time-keeping disputes, highlighting broader inconsistencies in officiating standards.

Read at www.bbc.com