There are two completely separate points. Should the goal stand, and was he offside.
Son’s goal should definitely have stood. Like Mane against the Ev and Salah’s v Brighton. If it’s so close you need 5 minutes drawing lines, then give the fucking goal.
But was it technically offside? By the standards VAR are applying, then yes it was. If Hendo’s and Salah’s were, then so is that.
I would like an explanation for why the line VAR drew went straight through Rhys’ foot but was left a clear 5-10 cm ahead of Son’s. And why they paused the frame before the ball had left Lo Celso’s boot.
Cooling off after the game has not changed my opinion that if that were Salah or Mane a way would be found, through the manipulation of lines and frame, to conclude they were offside.
Wouldn’t that be an even clearer indication of Son being onside though?? If they didn’t even need to go to the point of Rhys’s boot closest to the goal line to see that Son is onside then why get finnicky about the lines?
Rhys foot isn’t on the ground, so it’s virtually impossible to tell where his foot is. I think it’s a deceptive image. I suspect if you move the line so it’s actually at Son’s foot, then the perception of where the line is compared the Rhys foot is still not clear.
The bigger issue is the point at which the ball is released from Lo Celso’s foot, because the VAR cut to that I saw on on the game last night wasn’t even close. And given Son is running at speed towards the goal, and Rhys is moving up the pitch (to play offside) Son is probably off on the very next frame.
But I’ll reiterate that I think the goal should stand because I’m not in favour of pissing about when it’s that close. It’s the inconsistency that’s infuriating. Salah was just as ‘onside’ against Brighton. Mane was more onside that against Everton, and I’ll say again. Had that been Salah running through, there would had been a 5 minute inquest, lines would have be drawn and redrawn, and eventually an assistant referee from fucking Manchester would have concluded he was off.
I am old fashioned, when thinking of a fooball match…i.e. playmaker on the pitch
Was excited with the arrival of Thiago…It seems to me Mo and Mane are making lots of effort in fighting for possition and space…wasting energy, which makes them less efficient, even letting the fullbacks learn attacking patterns. At 76% with Thiago, it would end earlier…
Nothing in particular…just saying…
Seems like a good time for away win
I was thinking the same thing Still, the line needs to be drawn from Rhys Boot and then aren’t they supposed to plot another line from the attacking player to then see whether they are in front or not? I see daylight between both the boot of Williams and that of Son so perhaps they need to move Williams’ line a bit closer to where his boot is? Or better yet, choose the frame where they can be certain that the ball has left Lo Celso’s foot…then do the lines on that image.
VAR very suspect. Thick line drawn with a bingo pen? Fuzzy image. Ball hadn’t left the foot of the passer. But hey presto, here’s an image that maybe shows Son onside. We’ll use it! Let’s quickly move on.
That, plus being reminded of what a small, nasty man Mourinho is, just adds to the joy of winning.
xG is a hipster stat created to show we shouldn’t be top of the league. I’m not surprised you don’t know it. It isn’t in any Bowie songs or Marco Polo biographies.
Like a lot of 538 stuff I think a lot of the criticism of it is based on it not doing what they dont even claim it should. it provides some context for an individual game, but it is not supposed to be able to predict who should win a game. Over the long term, like a season, it does do a good job of predicting where a team should end up in the league table, but what 538 have done is some nice analysis on situations that might make a team over or under perform their xGD over the long term. That sort of deviation can be a good place to start to try to understand what a team is doing well or poorly depending on the direction of the deviation.
Still, the line needs to be drawn from Rhys Boot and then aren’t they supposed to plot another line from the attacking player to then see whether they are in front or not? I see daylight between both the boot of Williams and that of Son so perhaps they need to move Williams’ line a bit closer to where his boot is? Or better yet, choose the frame where they can be certain that the ball has left Lo Celso’s foot…then do the lines on that image.