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Howard Webb has gone from Rotherham's New York Stadium to New York City as the former referee spearheads the implementation of video technology in Major League Soccer .
Three years on from hanging up his whistle, the man who officiated the 2010 World Cup final is working as hard as ever in an attempt to smoothly bring video reviews into the USA and Canada's top division.
Webb has been working in Manhattan as the Professional Referee Organization's Manager of Video Assistant Referee Operations since March, overseeing development, education, assessment and assignment of VARs.
It feels a long way from his hometown of Rotherham - where he announced the name of boyhood club United's New York Stadium in 2011 - and a chance to be at the forefront of refereeing innovation.
"It's amazing this journey that football takes you on," Webb told Press Association Sport.
"When I started refereeing in 1989 in Rotherham's local leagues, to think that I'm here in New York now heading up the video review project, you just wouldn't have believed it.
"I was approached by MLS, I was asked if I'd be interested in being involved in the development and implementation of the video review project here.
10 debuts to look out for in the Premier LeagueShow all 10 1 /1010 debuts to look out for in the Premier League 10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Danny Drinkwater The 27-year-old is set to face his former side at the King Power Stadium on his Chelsea debut. Drinkwater could well endure a hostile reception from Leicester fans, having handed in a transfer request in late August. N’Golo Kante, who also left Leicester for Chelsea last summer, was booed in his first match against the Foxes.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Serge Aurier The £23m acquisition from PSG has admitted he has a point to prove with Spurs, both on and off the pitch. Aurier had been in danger of missing out on his move to White Hart Lane after struggling to gain a work permit, with his criminal record for elbowing a police officer a black mark against his name. He will be desperate to make a fresh start against Everton on Saturday.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Fernando Llorente The World Cup-winning Spaniard could make his Tottenham debut against Everton. Llorente was linked with the Toffees during this summer’s transfer window, touted as a possible replacement for Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku given his power and aerial excellence. Having joined Spurs with a year on his Swansea contract, he will be keen to hit the ground running at Goodison.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain The 24-year-old, bought for £35m on deadline day, is set to make his Reds bow at the Etihad stadium against Manchester City. Oxlade-Chamberlain has made no secret of his desire to play in central midfield, and he reportedly believes that Jürgen Klopp will give him the chance to do so. Playing against a midfield coached by Pep Guardiola will certainly keep him busy.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Wilfried Bony The Ivorian striker could make his second Swansea City debut at home to Newcastle on Sunday 10th, and has recently described the club as his “garden”. Bony scored an impressive 34 goals in 70 Premier League appearances for Swansea before joining Manchester City in January 2015. He will wear the number 2 shirt for the Swans, despite the number 9 being vacant after Fernando Llorente’s move to Spurs.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Renato Sanches Signing Renato Sanches on loan from Bayern Munich represents something of a coup for Swansea, with Paul Clement’s Bayern connections instrumental to the deal. As recently as October 2016, the 20-year-old won the prestigious Golden Boy award as Europe’s most impressive player aged 21 or under. A debut against struggling Newcastle is the perfect opportunity for Sanches to shine.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Nikola Vlasic Vlasic was playing at Goodison Park only one month ago, for Hajduk Split in a Europa League qualifier. He reportedly impressed Ronald Koeman so much that the Toffees boss sanctioned a £10m move. Vlasic, who was vice-captain at Split aged just 19, recently described his transfer to Everton as 'the opportunity of a lifetime'.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Mamadou Sakho The former Liverpool defender could return to the northwest on his debut for Crystal Palace, with Palace travelling to Burnley on Saturday. The France international had long fallen out of Jürgen Klopp’s plans at Anfield, and will be aiming to shore up a Palace defence which has shipped six goals in their first three games.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Tim Krul The experienced Dutch keeper is keen to show he can still play at Premier League level, after a serious injury in 2015 hampered his status as Newcastle and Netherlands no.1. Krul - who joins Brighton on a season-long loan – has been on Newcastle’s books for twelve years, but is deemed surplus to requirements by Toon boss Rafael Benitez.
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10 debuts to look out for in the Premier League Kevin Wimmer The Austrian centre-half could make his debut against Manchester United at the Potteries. Wimmer will have his work cut out against the Red Devils, who have scored an ominously impressive ten goals without reply in their first three games. £18m might sound steep for a player who struggled somewhat at Spurs, but Stoke boss Mark Hughes has described him as “hugely talented”.
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"It was a really good opportunity for me personally to combine my experience on the field and officiating with some of the recent work I've done within television as well.
"I've enjoyed every moment of it. It is an exciting, challenging project."
Webb speaks of "maximum benefit for minimum interference" when it comes to video review - an additional tool aimed at ensuring clear mistakes are avoided and serious incidents are not missed.
The Yorkshireman oversaw the training of 49 officials ahead of video review's launch in MLS last month, with every available video angle poured over during matches by the VAR team at the stadium.
Constant checks take place during the game looking for clear and obvious errors regarding goals, penalties, direct red cards and cases of mistaken identity, with the VAR able to recommend a review to the referee.
If accepted, they make a TV box signal and can then either watch the footage on a pitchside monitor or take the VAR's recommendation, with the final decision always belonging to the referee.
"It has been a pretty solid start," Webb said.
"We're still learning, we've still got a long way to go in terms of making sure that our officials are as consistent as possible, as comfortable as possible.
"It has been okay so far but we're keeping our feet very much on the ground because we know there will be some bumps in the road ahead.
"It's a challenging project but so far we're fairly pleased with the way it has been implemented."
The first 39 matches brought 13 reviews, with just four of them not resulting in a change in decision.
It has, Webb says, been supported "almost to a man" by officials, giving referees more confidence and a clearer head with which to make decisions.
"Errors are made not intentional," he said. "Decisions are made with all good intent at the time, based on the angle that you have.
Top 25 players in Premier League historyShow all 25 1 /25Top 25 players in Premier League history Top 25 players in Premier League history 25. Michael Carrick Behind Ronaldo and Rooney, the next-most important man to United’s recovery in the second half of the 2000s. He was a stylish player for Tottenham but over 11 seasons at Old Trafford he has given them the control that they lacked during their difficult years in the early 2000s. And he was even more important to their resurgence in Europe.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 24. Eden Hazard The most decisive attacking player in the Premier League of this decade, Hazard came to Chelsea from Lille in 2012. He was then Chelsea’s best player in their title wins of both 2015 and 2017, mixing an ability to burst past defenders with an eye for goal and a muscular physicality that opponents often under-estimated. And even then it feels like his very best football is still ahead of him.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 23. Didier Drogba The most important signing of the Jose Mourinho era at Chelsea, Drogba joined from Marseille in 2004 and once he established himself he was the perfect modern target man. His power, presence and goals were crucial to Mourinho’s Chelsea, and then to Carlo Ancelotti’s, and he won three titles before returning to help out in the 2014-15 title win too.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 22. Peter Schmeichel With all due respect to Petr Cech, Schmeichel is the greatest goalkeeper of the Premier League era, a man almost as important as Eric Cantona in giving Manchester United the presence, charisma and quality they needed to reassert themselves as the best team in the country in the 1990s. Won five titles at United, and played for Aston Villa and Manchester City afterwards.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 21. Luis Suarez Only played in the Premier League for three and a half years and yet he was so unforgettably good during his brief spell at Liverpool that he demands inclusion. His 2013-14 season remains the greatest single season by a player in Premier League history, when he scored 31 brilliant goals and came within inches of winning Liverpool’s first title for a generation. Wonder what he could have done in a better team? In his first year at Barcelona he won the Champions League.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 20. Sol Campbell During his long peak, Campbell was a mix of athleticism, bravery and intelligence, anchoring the Spurs defence for six seasons, Arsenal for five and Portsmouth, at their very best, for another three. He was one of the crucial signings who helped to take Arsenal to the next level, and to the 2001-02 and 2003-04 titles, even if that controversial free transfer move will never be forgiven by Tottenham fans.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 19. Sergio Aguero One of the greatest strikers of the Premier League era, and the man who provided its greatest ever moment. Aguero will always be known as the man whose 94th minute winner won the 2011-12 title for Manchester City. But that was just one of 122 Premier League goals he has scored in his six seasons in England, in four of which he has gone past 20. If he had stayed injury free he would even more.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 18. David Beckham Yet another star of the Manchester United treble-winning team, Beckham’s fame eventually transcended United, the Premier League and football itself after his move to Real Madrid in 2003. But before then he was a consistent, dangerous, hard-working midfielder who was as important as anyone to the six Premier League titles he won during his time at Old Trafford.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 17. Andy Cole Number three on the list of all-time top Premier League goalscorers with 187, Cole was a star of Kevin Keegan’s first great Newcastle United team. In 1995 he made a surprising transfer to Manchester United and after a slow start he was eventually a big success: he brilliantly partnered with Dwight Yorke in the treble season, before being sold to Blackburn in 2001.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 16. Michael Owen Like Rooney, a striker who almost suffered by achieving so much so early: Owen won two Premier League Golden Boots as a teenager and was electric between breaking into the Liverpool first team at 17 and leaving for Real Madrid at 24. He even won the Ballon d’Or. Did eventually get his medal, with Manchester United, but it is the first half of his career for which he will always be remembered.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 15. Paul Scholes Perhaps underappreciated at the peak of his powers, Scholes was the pass and move specialist at the heart of United’s great teams. He played some of his best football in the final years of his career, after overcoming an eye injury, and even came out of retirement in 2012, helping United to the 2012-13 Premier League title, the sixth of his career.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 14. David Silva Manchester City’s greatest ever player, Silva was signed from Valencia in 2010 and has now given them seven years of highly-skilled control in midfield. City would never have won their two Premier League titles without Silva pulling the strings and he has proven more consistent than his two best colleagues, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 13. Dennis Bergkamp As important as Thierry Henry to the style and success of the early Arsene Wenger years, Bergkamp predated Wenger’s arrival but was his perfect representative on the pitch. Bergkamp was, in his own words, the ‘technical leader’ of those Arsenal teams and those three Premier League titles before his retirement would have been unimaginable without him.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 12. John Terry The last great old-fashioned centre-back, Terry was one of the building blocks of the great Chelsea team of the 2000s, and outlasted all of them, not leaving the club until 2017. He was the captain and defensive organiser behind four Premier League titles and was there for a fifth, under Antonio Conte, although by that point he was in a bit-part role.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 11. Wayne Rooney Went from teen prodigy at Everton to become leading man at Manchester United before returning to Goodison with five Premier League titles and 198 league goals. Happy to play up front, out wide or in midfield, always with the same audacity, conviction and skill. Questions he faces about whether he fulfilled his potential are a testament to just how good he was, and what he achieved, before the age of 25.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 10. Eric Cantona Not Manchester United’s best player of the Premier League era but one of the most important. He gave United the extra edge they needed when he arrived in 1992, inspiring them with his charisma and imagination, and a stylish approach to the game that stood out in the muddy early 90s. He only played four and a half seasons at United but it was more than enough to make his deep mark.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 9. Rio Ferdinand The most accomplished defender of the era, he was promising at West Ham United and Leeds United and then consistently brilliant during his 12 seasons at Manchester United. He won the league six times there, anchoring the defence of arguably the greatest English team of this century. Neither United nor England have known quite what to do since.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 8. Alan Shearer The Premier League’s greatest ever goalscorer, by far. His 260 goals is 62 more than second-placed Wayne Rooney, the result of terrorising defences from the league’s foundation in 1992 with Southampton until his retirement in 2006. He only won one title, with Blackburn, having joined Newcastle in 1996, but he was a hero there, overcoming knee injuries and staying dangerous.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 7. Steven Gerrard Surely the greatest Premier League player never to win a medal, Gerrard was the inspiration for almost 15 years’ worth of Liverpool teams. There has never been a Premier League midfielder quite like him, as powerful and spectacular, but he could never find the team to take him to the title. He came close in 2009 and closer in 2014, and unfortunately he will always be associated with that glorious failure.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 6. Patrick Vieira The first and best signing of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal reign, he arrived as a 20-year-old who had not settled at Milan and left as a three-time Premier League winner. He was as much of a by-word for leadership, tenacity, resilience and skill under pressure as his great rival Roy Keane. There has not been a player truly like him or Keane in the 12 years since they both left.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 5. Frank Lampard Unmatchable as a consistent goalscoring midfielder: 10 consecutive seasons with double figures of Premier League goals. He was the intelligent engine of the great Chelsea teams through the 2000s, winning three league titles as well as the Champions League in 2012. He retired with 177 Premier League goals, the fourth most ever, having never even played up front once.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 4. Ryan Giggs No-one can match Giggs for longevity but he is about even more than that. His total of 13 Premier League medals will surely never be matched and he will also be remembered as a man whose game changed as his body did, more successfully than anyone ever. He was an explosive winger in the first great United team of the mid-1990s before, in the late 2000s and early 2010s, finishing off as a thoughtful midfielder.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 3. Roy Keane Behind Sir Alex Ferguson himself, the next most important man in establishing Manchester United’s Premier League hegemony was Roy Keane. Arrived as the British record signing in 1993 but then inspired United to the 1994 double, the 1996 double and best of all the 1999 treble. He was an imposing presence in midfield, and after he faded in the 2000s, United spent years trying to replace him.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 2. Thierry Henry Unlike Ronaldo, Henry gave the best years of his career to England, winning two Premier League titles and four Golden Boots during his long purple patch in the first half of the 2000s. He was Arsenal’s cutting edge and embodied their best qualities: speed, style, skill, imagination and class. He is the fifth top goalscorer in Premier League history, a remarkable achievement for a player who only spent seven seasons here.
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Top 25 players in Premier League history 1. Cristiano Ronaldo No player has ever dominated and decided the Premier League like Cristiano Ronaldo did for Manchester United between 2006 and 2009. Those three straight title-winning seasons – he won the 2008 Champions League too - remain the high-point for consistent performance in the history of this competition. And he was only 24 when he left for Real Madrid. Imagine what he could have achieved in England if he had stayed.
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"But the game is played quickly, you get one shot to make a call and sometimes you get it wrong.
"That can leave a scar on your career for a long time, so a chance to avoid those errors I think is something that we all welcome."
There have been teething problems with video technology but it appears to have gone smoother in MLS than elsewhere, namely the Confederations Cup.
FIFA pledged in the build-up to that tournament that they would use it at next summer's World Cup, ahead of which they need to educate players and fans as much as officials.
"IFAB (International Football Association Board) have given countries around the world an opportunity to be involved in this trial phase, which will last through until probably 2019," Webb said.
"All of the time it has been evaluated, they're looking at how it's working in different places.
"We're feeding back to them all the time and then a final decision will be made in 2018 or 2019.
"We're hoping, of course, that the full ratification will be given and it'll be part of the laws of the game going forward."
The Premier League has not dabbled with video technology just yet, but it appears a matter of when rather than if they do.
"If it's adopted by other leagues, it means that they've liked what they've seen in the places where it has happened so far, including here in the MLS," Webb added.
"But it's a matter for them I guess as to when they want to dip their toe in the water.
"I believe it will be a staple of the sport going forward and every league will want to be involved if they have the capacity to implement it.
"I am sure the Premier League will be looking at it closely."
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