Everton write to Premier League to express VAR concern

Everton have written to the Premier League to express their concern at the implementation of VAR after a number of controversial decisions this season, according to Alan Myers.

Manchester City, Brighton and Aston Villa have also written to the Premier League ahead of a meeting with all 20 clubs and referee’s chief Mike Riley this week.

Everton have found themselves on the wrong end of some questionable calls this season, most notably against Brighton and Tottenham.

It is not just the inconsistency of the decisions but the time taken to implement them, causing unnecessary delays while keeping those at the stadium in the dark as to what’s going on.

At the Amex Stadium, the VAR official overturned the referee’s decision not to award a penalty following an accidental collision with Michael Keane and Aaron Connolly, the first time that had occurred in the Premier League this season.

The Premier League have since admitted that they made a mistake in awarding a penalty, though that is little consolation for Everton.

Everton were leading 2-1 at the time, but after Neal Maupay converted the spot-kick a 94th-minute own-goal from Lucas Digne condemned the Toffees to defeat.

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The following week Everton should have been awarded a penalty when Dele Alli handled in the area. But after a lengthy VAR check taking more than three minutes, a penalty was not awarded.

There was also a lengthy delay to check penalty decisions involving Son Heung-Min and Richarlison, also turned down, whilst Theo Walcott was the subject of a red card check for a tackle barely worthy of a yellow.

Those decisions potentially cost Everton five points, which would put Everton fifth rather than their present position of 15th.

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Marco Silva expressed his concerns about the technology last week, saying bad decisions could cost a manager his job.

It isn’t just Everton to have been on the wrong end of some questionable calls, there have been a litany of incidents throughout the season, with calls for a review into VAR’s usage growing louder by the week.

One option is to allow the referee’s to check pitch-side monitors rather than rely on the VAR official at Stockley Park. Another is to implement a time limit to avoid the long delays checking marginal decisions that obviously do not fall under VAR’s remit of dealing with ‘clear and obvious errors’.

Whether the letter will make a difference remains to be seen, the Premier League have already said they will not suspend the use of the technology. That said, it is still important Everton make their voices heard as it is clearly not being implemented properly, as the Toffees have found to their cost.