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MLS Video Review: Love it or hate it, it’s here to stay

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Video review. Did those two words make you cringe, cheer or shrug? Maybe a little of all three?

You’re not alone regardless of your reaction. There are some who think video review was long overdue and soccer is now catching up to the times. There are others who curse the words and say they disgrace all that is beautiful about the beautiful game. And there are those resigned to an imperfect system that still needs work and will never make everyone happy. 

Many Major League Soccer players fall into that last category. 

During MLS media day January in Los Angeles, Pro Soccer USA asked some players what they thought of video review now, after playing with Video Assistant Referees (VAR) through the final months of the 2017 season.

Most began their responses in the same way: a glance down at the table, a quick smile and a slight chuckle.

“I don’t really like it, but I have to respect it,” Minnesota United captain Francisco Calvo said. “The refs are humans too, and they can make mistakes, too.”

Catch Calvo or any other player mid-match after a VAR call goes against them and the answer may be strikingly different, but in this calm setting they offered more moderate responses. 

Real Salt Lake midfielder Albert Rusnák let out a hefty laugh before saying, “Look, whatever I say it won’t matter. It went against us a couple times last year. As long as the VAR doesn’t stop a game two to three times each game. If it does, it kills the flow of the game. As long as it won’t happen every game, I’m alright with it.”

After an elongated pause he added, “I’m not saying it shouldn’t be there, but it should be used a little bit less.”

In November of last year, MLS released numbers on its VAR program through 149 matches. In those matches, there were a total of 49 reviews, an average of about .33 reviews per match or one review every three matches. 

It’s too early to judge if it will be used more or less on average this season, but there already have been multiple controversial calls. 

In Week 3, two red cards caused a stir. 

Clint Dempsey was booked in the 38th minute of Seattle’s 3-0 loss to FC Dallas for an apparent shot to the groin of Dallas’ Jacori Hayes. Even after replay, spectators were split on the decision. 

Vancouver’s Kendall Waston tried to shove his teammates aside to debate the referee after being handed a red card after video review in the 13th minute of the Whitecaps’ 4-1 loss to Atlanta last week. The referee ejected Waston for an elbow to the face of Leandro González Pírez. Vancouver announced Tuesday it will appeal the call.

Some other VAR calls in the opening weeks of the 2018 MLS season included two that went against Orlando City and an overturned penalty for Sporting Kansas City.

And in one match between the Sounders and LAFC, players urged the referee to use VAR, but a review never came.

If Rusnák wants the technology used less, however, he’s in for disappointment as he will definitely see more of it across the sport moving forward. 

IFAB, the International Football Association Board, approved the addition of video review to the laws of the game earlier this month. And when the FIFA Council held its first meeting of the year Friday in Bogotá, Colombia, it voted to use VAR during the 2018 World Cup in Russia. 

Reactions to the announcement varied, but most on social media were less than thrilled. 

One Twitter poll conducted by ESPN FC showed 60 percent of the nearly 9,500 people who took the poll were not in favor of VAR being used in the World Cup. 

But love it or hate it, it’s here to stay.