Ben Burgess column: VAR - what is it good for?

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I wasn’t disappointed, as I took my seat in the crowd in time to see the huge flag being passed around the Kop and a spine tingling rendition of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ being belted out.

The West Bromwich Albion fans were playing their part with the Cyrille Regis tributes ringing out from their section of this world famous stadium

The game started at a frenetic pace with Albion scoring two tremendous goals to cancel out Roberto Firmino’s chipped opener.

This had the making of a real FA Cup classic until possibly the least decisive man in the world – referee Craig Pawson – and the Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) combined to turn the game from the fast paced, all-action, passionate game that we all love, into what could only be described as a strange form of American Football combined with cricket!

It started with Albion’s ‘third’ goal and the Liverpool player’s desperate pleas to the referee to try and deflect from their dreadful defending.

Craig Dawson, who had headed the ‘goal’, was stuck in a strange limbo not sure whether to celebrate or retreat back to his position in defence.

The referee proceeded to put a finger in his ear and time stood still whilst the atmosphere in the ground evaporated like an Arsenal title charge.

Eventually, the referee gave a free kick to the red men and the game was back underway – although the scoreboard operators were clearly as confused as everyone else as they kept 1-3 displayed.

Liverpool eventually swung the ball into the opposition’s box and Mo Salah went down theatrically and the referee waved away his protests – until the man who has no face (VAR) spoke his words of wisdom.

The Albion players, fans and management were incredulous at this point, as it appeared the whole world was against them.

Even the Liverpool supporters in the ground were booing and screaming for the match to restart even though they could potentially benefit from the impending decision.

Unbelievably, the VAR wasn’t certain and Pawson demanded his own TV to review the incident.

The wait this time was verging on the ridiculous.

What is the point of VAR if it just comes down to one person’s interpretation of the incident?

The referee decided that the slightest of tugs was enough to send Salah flying ‘dead swan like’ to the ground and a penalty was given.

If that really was a penalty – I’m not convinced – then during the course of 90 minutes there will be at least six incidents for VAR to review.

As a result of the prolonged stoppage, and players going from high tempo to stopping for four minutes and straight back to high tempo, Albion lost a player to a hamstring injury.

Somehow, Alan Pardew and his men managed to curtail their feelings of injustice and scored a third goal that looked perfectly correct.

Instead of the away team celebrating another goal in style, they were forced to stand and wait for the referee to give a decision.

The fans were muted and when the goal was eventually allowed, the brief celebrations that ensued were awkward at best.

If it wasn’t so sad it would have been funny.

Everything that happened at Anfield confirmed my initial concerns about VAR.

I love football how it is. Millions of people love it how it is.

The TV companies pay millions of pounds for broadcast rights because of how great a spectacle it is.

Yet, in the quest to eradicate a couple of small errors, we are in a real danger of making the ultimate mistake of slowing down football and taking the passion, unpredictability and spontaneity out of the game that we already love.