Dibling, semi-automatic offside, early winner, but VAR a loser for the millionth time

The VAR caused more confusion in Southampton’s draw with Brighton and left us begging for semi-automatic offsides to get into the Premier League.

Cameron Archer’s goal and Southampton’s limbs in Brighton’s away game were all for naught as Adam Armstrong was offside from Ryan Fraser’s cross and “interfered with Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen’s ability to play the ball”. There’s a reason why the Premier League Match Center X account doesn’t allow comments on their posts. What a load of shit.

It took four minutes and 27 seconds for the people at Stockley Park to decide the offside. At this point the meaningless phrase “clear and obvious” simply goes out the window. Injured Saints goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale wasn’t happy, posting on social media: “You can’t be serious.”

Waiting literally does no one any good, and the more time passes, the more sweat drips from the poor and incompetent official responsible for drawing those annoying lines.

Semi-automatic offsides can’t come soon enough and should help turn the tide, with more people now opposing VAR than when it was introduced in 2019. Games will run better as fans and players aren’t anxious about the outcome of sometimes blatant offsides Have to wait for decisions for several minutes. It will be as much of a blessing for the Premier League as it was for the Champions League.

Johnny Nic is obviously someone who is completely against technology and it’s hard to blame him these days – there are a lot of negatives. But there are also positive aspects and I for one think that it would be very stupid to abolish VAR completely.

Semi-automated offside incidents eliminate the most scrutinized aspect of VAR, making life smoother for officials, players and fans. Offside will become the black and white rule that it should be. We need it and we need it now.

Away from this tiring debate, there was a football game going on and a lot happened. Let’s move on to Tyler Dibling. We are in awe.

The boy is special and gives Kaoru Mitoma his latest lesson in dribbling. He thought it would be beneath him to learn more about the actual ins and outs, but it was a masterstroke from the Southampton teenager, the latest to emerge from the Saints’ youth academy.

Dibling has been a bright spot in a miserable season for Southampton. He made a name for himself by winning a penalty against Manchester United and moving on from there. He won another penalty against Big Six opponents in Liverpool on Sunday and probably had his best performance of the season against Brighton on Friday.

👉 Big weekend: Liverpool vs Man City, Aston Villa, Odegaard, Dawson, Yorkshire, The Classic

His convincing performance wasn’t enough to give his side their first away win of the season, but he’s getting better with each game and will be the reason Southampton won’t be dead and buried by Christmas when they get a few in December achieve great results.

If the first 13 games are anything to go by, Southampton will go down, but Dibling won’t go down with them.

There are rumors that the 18-year-old is getting homesick, which is why his time at Chelsea lasted from July 2022 to September 2022. It was probably for the best anyway and there is no doubt the Blues will make another move for him at the end of the season.

Dibling’s ability to break free from tight spaces, carry the ball, overwhelm his humiliated opponents and push the Saints upfield is remarkable for a player of his experience. He plays with a lack of fear that is characteristic of a low-slung teenager, and we don’t want that to change.

Southampton have a very clear philosophy that focuses on patience and possession, but much-criticized coach Russell Martin has allowed Dibling to express himself. The moment a Flair player wears tactical shackles, the game is no longer worth watching.

Despite the 18-year-old’s hard work, Southampton remain at the bottom of the Premier League table.

Such teams need an X-factor in attack to survive, like Leeds United with Raphinha and Wolves now with Matheus Cunha. Dibling may not be at that level yet and the supporting cast may be a level below Leeds and Wolves, but he gives them a fighting chance and will put a smile on the faces of St Mary’s, even in the annual 9-0 defeat arrives.

Brighton, meanwhile, didn’t do enough in front of goal. They had a wonderful opportunity when Yukinari Sugawara lost the ball on the edge of his penalty area and goalkeeper Joe Lumley was out of position. Luckily for the visitors, Mitoma picked up the ball early and shot wide.

There wasn’t enough creativity on a night that most expected would be enjoyable, but those lost points will fly under the radar due to a big negative on VAR and a shining positive on Tyler Dibling.