IS VAR LEADING TO A MORE TACTICAL APROACH FROM TEAMS

In the last few days, matches between Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United have all been heavily influenced by the Video Assistant Referee technology.

The Red Devils lead at Stamford Bridge after Alejandro Garnacho headed home in the sixty-seventh minute. This would be the case until the one hundredth minute when a foul by Diogo Dalot lead to a confidently dispatched spot kick from Cole Palmer who then scored his second just a minute later drilling the ball past Ondre Onana and sending the bridge into disarray. The penalty was given to the hots after VAR completed their checks. Manchester United set a record during this match although it would not be one to be proud of. The former treble winners set the record for the latest a has been ahead in a match which they have gone on to loose.

Another late and controversial decision was made just two days later as Wolverhampton Wanderers were denied a nighty-ninth minute equaliser after VAR deemed young Zimbabwean midfielder Tawanda Chirewa offside.

So the question is this, with VAR stoppages leading to lengthy periods of additional time at the end of matches, will managers begin to adopt a new tactical approach with substitutions to ensure they have more fresh legs on the pitch later in the game. This could become a key factor as if a team has already made all their allocated changes, the side who make their changes towards the end of the match could hold a competitive advantage over their fatigued opposition.

Gary O'Neil gave his thoughts on the decision in the post match press conference: