Dining at the top table means a lot. It brings the glitz, thel glamour, some of the greatest football teams in the world and cameras everywhere you look.
It also marks a return to the devastating world of VAR, the seemingly revolutionary tool that was supposed to virtually eliminate glaring errors from our game. Sigh, how naive we all were.
Normally I don’t like to focus on referees’ decisions and choose to stay away from the never-ending circus of criticizing every last decision made by a referee. It’s boring and it doesn’t do anything.
Critics and naysayers will say that I’m only writing this article because Burnley were deprived of a potentially decisive goal with 15 minutes to go, but that’s not the case at all. Some you win, some you lose, and so on.
I’m sure an opposing team will fall victim to a similarly brazen and bizarre decision at some point this season, and in the interest of fairness, it’s only fair that we point it out if and when it happens occurs.
Referee Robert Jones checks the VAR screen during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley FC at the City Ground on September 18, 2023 in Nottingham.
We’re only five games into the season, four in Burnley’s case, and yet we’ve already seen plenty of examples of VAR achieving the exact opposite of its intended purpose.
I largely support the referees, who need all the help they can get to cope with the frenetic pace of top-level football, and the 22 players who often try to outwit, outwit and outsmart them at every turn.
I can’t help but yawn when pundits and sports stars complain about the “lowest level of refereeing we’ve ever seen”, as if leagues in other countries don’t have exactly the same problems . No, it is simply very difficult and the ordeal is often tiring.
But let’s be honest: VAR doesn’t help, does it? It only hinders. Whether accurate or not, it comes across as a fun and disgusting tool bent on eliminating targets, almost as if its sole purpose is to find the smallest of flaws. Is this really what we signed up for?
Burnley assistant manager Craig Bellamy reacts to referee Robert Jones after the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley FC at the City Ground on September 18, 2023 in Nottingham.
No Nottingham Forest player appealed as Sander Berge beat Scott McKenna before pulling the ball back for Lyle Foster to restore Burnley’s lead.
While reversing the “goal” using a slow-motion replay, VAR officer Darren England saw the ball just graze the sleeve of Berge’s shirt.
The man in the centre, Robert Jones, has been called on the monitor and as soon as that happens you know what the result will be.
A deliberate handball? Absolute nonsense. Was it a clear and obvious mistake from the start? Obviously not.
But this is the world we live in now, where every little detail needs to be analyzed and in many cases overanalyzed to strip the game of its soul and emotion.
Burnley’s Zeki Amdouni celebrates after scoring the team’s first goal during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley FC at the City Ground on September 18, 2023 in Nottingham.
It’s a real shame that we have to focus so much on this incident – sadly it’s unavoidable – because we should instead be praising Burnley for their best
performance of the season so far. Vincent Kompany will be encouraged to score his first point of the season, but like the rest of us, he would have known he should have scored three.
After a slow and sloppy opening period of around 20 minutes, the Clarets were the better team for the vast majority of the affair as they sought their second victory in as many months at the City Ground, having won the Carabao Cup in August.
On this occasion it was Zeki Amdouni who scored the late winner and the Swiss striker was again among the goals, confidently firing a low shot with his weaker left foot four minutes before half-time. time.
The goal, however, was largely due to the magic and artistry of Luca Koleosho, who easily brought down Joe Worrall before slotting the ball back into the danger zone.
Although the just 19-year-old isn’t ready yet, he’s still a bit raw, but it’s clear he has star quality.
James Trafford of Burnley fails to save a shot from Callum Hudson-Odoi of Nottingham Forest (not pictured) as he scores during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley FC at the City Ground on September 18, 2023 in Nottingham Score his team’s first goal.
However, he wasn’t the only impressive performer that night. Jordan Beyer defended stoutly and helped set up the attacks with his trademark attacks from the back,
Amdouni was instrumental in much of the build-up to the match and Berge made the difference from the bench. Just like Mike Tresor, who demonstrated his quality during a fleeting appearance.
Foster also went to the ground, as he so often does, but his night ended on a sour note when he was ejected for an unnecessary elbow.
But the standout player has to be the returning Charlie Taylor, who immediately settled into the back four and brought much-needed calming influence and experience to a backline that had scored 11 goals in their first three games.
Had it not been for Callum Hudson-Odoi’s world-beating goal, against which James Trafford could have done nothing, the Clarets would have rightly claimed a clean sheet.
Without Callum Hudson-Odoi’s superb strike, against which James Trafford could do nothing, the Clarets would have deserved to concede a goal.
While Forest had their moments and put Burnley under pressure at times, clear chances were difficult to create and Kompany’s men defended the penalty area well.
Against Man City, Aston Villa and Tottenham, Burnley looked a little stodgy, choosing to focus on creating chances rather than preventing goals at the other end.
At the City Ground, Kompany found the right balance between the two, maintaining that threat in the final third whilst protecting Trafford and giving the goalkeeper a relatively quiet night in terms of stopping shots.
This against a team that should be in and around Burnley in the table bodes well for the rest of the season.
If you continue like this, points and the first victory will probably follow. Even VAR won’t stop them.
