Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou says VAR has negatively changed the game in England but he concedes it is “not going away”.
Spurs were denied a goal against North London rivals Arsenal on Sunday due to VAR, and although that decision was correct, the system has been mired in controversy all season with a series of baffling decisions.
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VAR has been dumped in Sweden but Postecoglou doesn’t believe the same will happen in the Premier League.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow night’s game at Chelsea, he said: “Yeah, it’s here to stay – absolutely. It’s not going away.
“I’d change a hell of a lot on it but again I’ve said before that I think it’s changed the game materially, which I don’t think was the intention when it was brought in.
“I don’t like it – it changes the game, the game experience whether you’re involved or not as an active spectator. But hopefully they’ll find the right sort of ground for it to work.”
After joking he was moving to Sweden to get away from VAR, the Australian insisted it was down to Howard Webb, technical director of refereeing body PGMOL, to find a solution to the ongoing issues.
“It’s about them finding out what’s the best decision-making process that’s not going to affect the game. It’s got nothing to do with managers. I manage a football team – I can tell them how to set up a team,” he added.
“I thought we should have had a penalty on the weekend [against Arsenal], other people didn’t think we should have had a penalty. I wasn’t sure about Micky van de Ven’s offside but other people say it is offside.
“At the end of the day, who am I to sit in a room and tell officials how to do their job? They should know that – that is their job. I wouldn’t want to be asking referees to advise coaches on how to manage a team.”
