4 End-of-Year Truths: VAR has lost the dressing room; Liverpool could be the best ever

As we look ahead to 2020 and what may lie in store, here are Four Truths with which to end the year…

The final weekend of Premier League football in 2019 was exactly as so many predicted it would be: interminable arguments about a bunch of guys sat in a production room roughly five miles outside of Heathrow. Stockley Park. Yes, VAR was again the main talking point as goals were ruled out for Crystal Palace, Norwich and Wolves for minute offside decisions across Saturday and Sunday – sparking fury in the stands and across social media.

And the real kicker? All of these decisions were *correct*. Whereas verdicts on incidents like penalties and red cards are a case of simply transferring human judgement from a guy without the benefit of a replay to one who does, offside decisions are supposed to be a matter of plain fact. Yet now they are sparking the most ferocious response. We have reached an event horizon where VAR is irredeemable: even when it’s right, it’s wrong. As Wolves skipper Conor Coady said after Pedro Neto had a goal ruled out at Anfield: “No one likes it”. VAR has fundamentally lost the dressing room, and as anyone well versed in football knows, there’s no coming back from that.

Rebrand it, rethink it, abandon it, but this cannot go on in its present form.

A 1-0 win over Wolves on Sunday ensured Liverpool went the whole of 2019 unbeaten at Anfield. In the Premier League, that run extends back to 2017 across 50 matches. If they avoid defeat against Sheffield United on January 2 they will have gone a full year unbeaten in the league both home and away. They have won 27 of their last 28 Premier League games and dropped only two points so far this season.

At present it is hard to see any team beating Liverpool. We are only halfway through the campaign and already Arsenal’s record of being the only top-flight team to go unbeaten in a 38-game season seems under threat. If they do achieve this fantastic feat while having the honour of being reigning world and European champions, they will surely deserve the title of being the best team in the history of English football. Better than United or City’s Treble winners, and better than Arsenal’s Invincibles. England has never witnessed such a dominant season as the one Liverpool are constructing.

Here’s another ridiculous stat for you: after their 2-1 loss to Chelsea , Arsenal have won only five of their 20 Premier League games so far this season. That’s the same number as Bournemouth, Aston Villa and West Ham – who actually have a game in hand. With a goal difference of minus four, and with only six points separating them from the drop zone, one or two more bad results will see Arsenal pitched fully into a relegation battle.

The appointment of Mikel Arteta has the potential to reinvigorate Arsenal. He has talked a good game about installing rigour and a sense of direction to this wretched team. Fans have been excited by brief clips of Arteta ordering players around in training – as though Unai Emery never did the same. And Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang spun the PR line in his programme notes on Saturday, writing: “We needed someone who would come in and shake the whole squad up. Someone with new ideas, with a new message. Mikel has brought all of that.” There have been some green shoots of improvement but the second half against Chelsea, and pathetic capitulation at the end, showed that the decay at Arsenal is deep-set. This would be a daunting job for a veteran manager, let alone a novice. And things could get worse before they get better.

Watching Mason Greenwood lash home a fierce, albeit deflected, shot against Newcastle on Boxing Day, you could have been forgiven for thinking you’d accidentally dropped a mince pie on the remote control and stuck on ‘Premier League Years: 2012-13’. Because the United teenager exhibits so many characteristics which remind you of Robin van Persie that it’s starting to get a bit scary. The way he shifts the ball; the way he shoots; even the way his arms move as he runs. All that’s missing now is for Greenwood to score a lobbed header and force a move to his club's most bitter rivals.

The only teenager in Europe's top five leagues who has scored more than Greenwood’s eight goals across all competitions in 2019-20 is Jadon Sancho, with 12. Sancho is 18 months older than Greenwood and it’s unlikely that Gareth Southgate would parachute in a player for Euro 2020 who had taken no part in qualifying, but it can’t be long before Greenwood is pushing for a senior England role. His talent is just too big to ignore, and if United’s mini-Renaissance of late has largely been built around Marcus Rashford’s prolific run and Anthony Martial’s return to the party, Greenwood will only be a bigger presence as we move into 2020.