Ange Postecoglou said VAR “reduces the authority” of referees after Tottenham’s 4-1 home defeat by Chelsea involved nine separate checks leading to 21 minutes of extra time.
Tottenham suffered their first Premier League loss of the season despite taking an early lead through Dejan Kulusevski as Cristian Romero and Destiny Udoji were sent off at both ends in the first half.
Cole Palmer equalized from a penalty kick in the 35th minute after Romero was sent off after a VAR review for a late challenge on Enzo Fernandes, before Udoji saw the second yellow card after a challenge on Raheem Sterling.
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Chelsea struggled to break down a nine-man Spurs side until Nicholas Jackson scored a hat-trick in the last 15 minutes to give Mauricio Pochettino the win in his first return to Tottenham after being sacked by the club in November 2019.
In response to a question about the extensive use of VAR that night, which also saw five goals disallowed, Postecoglou said: “I don’t like it. I don’t like standing here and there. I don’t like the whole stage waiting for decisions.” .
“But I know I’m in the wilderness with this guy. I’m kind of on my own. In my 26 years, I’ve always been willing to accept a referee’s decision good, bad or otherwise, and I’ve had some traumas. In my career, let me tell you.
“I’ve had some things come my way as well, but I just want the game to be played. But when we complain about decisions every week, that’s what’s going to happen. People will forensically check everything to make sure they’re comfortable, that’s right, and even at the end of the day we still won’t Happy.
“So what does that mean? It means we’re going to see a lot of stand-up. I think that reduces the power of the referees. You can’t tell me that the referees control the matches. They don’t. Control is out of it. But that’s the way the game is and you have to accept that and try to get on with it.
“There seems to be no great call for us to go back to accepting the referee’s decisions for the majority. I understand the goal-line technique because it is a simple technique. It happened and no one complained about it.”
Postecoglou went on to say that the search for a perfect game in which no wrong decisions are made is impossible, while adding that some of the blame lies with the managers who complained about the phone calls week after week.
“This is nothing new. I’ve been doing this for 26 years,” Postecoglou said. “I’ve heard managers, myself included, complain about decisions in the past, but we just kept at it. We didn’t feel the need to find a miracle cure for it.”
“Like I said, I don’t think that’s a viable option because it seems like we’ve opened that door, allowed technology, and now we want transparency.
“I guarantee you the next thing is we’ll have referees watching and explaining decisions. There are a lot of other sports where you can see referees doing that, I don’t think it’s anything to do with football. Anyway, I think I’m wild on that.”
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Does increased scrutiny mean VAR checks take longer?
Dale Johnson wonders whether concerns over complaints about VAR decisions mean referees are taking longer to make them.
There have been calls for Premier League managers to meet collectively with refereeing body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to discuss improvements to refereeing, while Arsenal issued a statement supporting Mikel Arteta after he expressed concerns following the Gunners’ 1.-0 defeat to Newcastle. United at the weekend.
“Premier League coaches should only manage their clubs,” Postecoglou said. “I have never talked and I will never talk to any referee about the rules of the game. I learned that you grow up and respect referees.
“Do you know what managers do? I’ll tell you what managers do, including me. We try to find ways to bend the rules. Tell me what the rule is, and I guarantee you’ll have a room full of managers handling things.” How can I overcome this.
“We are not the right people. I keep people saying that. I don’t agree with that. What I want is to always improve the skills of the best referees to officiate the game. But I think it is very difficult for the referees to officiate the game. These days.
“Their authority is constantly diminishing. I grew up afraid of the referees. They would be like the police. Nowadays I think we’re also talking to the police. I’m old school. I’m from a bygone era. I just like the purity of the game.”
“Part of this is my problem. I have to accept it and find a way to deal with it, but it goes against everything I want to try to do. I want my team to play fast, attacking, high-tempo football. If we get a red card, it will be a penalty kick against us.” “So what? Let’s get over it and come back. But then we have to stand for two minutes to decide, and see if something has crept in or not.”
“Let the linesman make the decision. Remember when it was the benefit of the doubt? Do we all remember that? For the striker? We’ve all lived with that. The game didn’t fall apart. But I’m like an old man.” A man is screaming at the clouds, my friend. I’ll take it, but that’s the way I am.
The loss saw Tottenham fail to return to first place in the English Premier League. The team is now behind leaders Manchester City by two points with 26 points after 11 matches played so far this season.
Tottenham will host Wolverhampton on Saturday, while Chelsea will face Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
