The great debate about VAR: with, without or changing its scope?

However, for some, it’s simple – rather than VAR being a solution to bad decisions, they would argue that officials just need to put things right.

When asked on Match of the Day Live whether the errors at Villa Park put him in favor of VAR, former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer said: “No. I would like the referees to do their job properly. It’s not too much to ask, is there?”

“If you needed any evidence of the damage VAR has done to referees, I think Saturday is a great example of that.

“These people seemed terrified to make the decision because they didn’t have a comfort blanket.

“for me, [referees’ decisions] “It’s actually getting worse.”

Former Newcastle and Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given added on Match of the Day: “This shows you why we use VAR. The officials made a lot of decisions wrong at Villa Park. VAR is like a comfort blanket for the referees.

“The decision was taken away from the officials. The linesman has been told all season not to raise their flag, so their minds have been trained. I think it shows that VAR helps even though we complain about it most weeks.”

When asked whether football was becoming too reliant on VAR, Howe showed some sympathy with the argument.

“There is an argument to say yes,” he said. “Because when there is VAR, there is a tendency to think, well, I won’t give that because VAR is there to check that.”

“Then your decision-making isn’t as sharp as it normally should be. Maybe there’s a difference there. I’d probably say you’re right in that regard.”

But former referee Graham Scott feels it is unfair to claim officials are hiding behind VAR.

“I don’t really think it’s fair,” he said on the Wayne Rooney Show.

“Obviously I work closely with them and I know these people and they’re not like that. It’s not about how their minds work, it’s not about how their processes work.

“I’ve spent half my career with VAR and the other half without it – and vice versa of course, without it first.

“And then when I was in the Premier League, I was still relegated to the Championship quite often. So you go in and out, in and out. Your processes basically stay the same.

“But what has changed is that with VAR, you don’t have that spell in a game where you know you’ve made a really big mistake and now you have to reset and start again.”