“Get rid…” Harry Maguire reveals Man United dressing room stance on scrapping VAR

Harry Maguire has revealed how what the Manchester United dressing room makes of the potential of scrapping VAR in the Premier League.

A lot has been made of VAR in the Premier League this campaign, with many feeling that it is more of a hindrance than a help due to the extra problems it causes.

Although correct decision-making has risen from 82% to 96%, according to the Premier League’s own calculations, incidents such as a penalty that was not given to Anthony Gordon during Manchester United vs Newcastle on Wednesday evening give credence to complaints.

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A lot has also been made of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ recent proposal to scrap the technology completely, and United defender Harry Maguire has weighed in on the situation.

“I think it is going to divide opinion, and a lot of people will want to keep it,” Maguire told The Sun. “Equally, the popular thing at the moment is to say get rid of it. It probably does need to be done better.

“The automated offsides are coming in next season, and that will improve it. It will make things quicker.

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“Personally, I would keep VAR but for offsides only. I would scrap it for everything that is opinion-based. Offsides are factual and not subjective. It is so difficult to lose a game on an offside goal when a player is two or three yards offside.

“Everyone makes mistakes, linesmen make mistakes, so that is why I would keep VAR for that. But I would not have it for red cards or penalties because even now, people disagree if a decision is right or wrong.”

Speaking further, Maguire also revealed that inside the United dressing room, players are split over whether VAR should be kept or dismantled ahead of next season.

“There is a split,” Maguire described. “Some players want to get rid of it. VAR offsides do kill goal celebrations a bit. In the back of your mind, players think whether or not it is a goal.

“For sure, I don’t want to see penalties decided by VAR – just let the referee make the decision. There have been far too many soft penalties this season. Penalties decide football matches and are such an important part of the game.

“Obviously, I am a defender, and I would say that. Strikers might say they want soft penalties. For me, I don’t want to see soft penalties win football matches. It should be a clear and obvious penalty. It is the same with the red cards – let the referee decide.

“We want our game to be a contact sport. We want the game to be aggressive. We want people to feel they can go in for hard challenges which are fair and not dangerous.”