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England boss Gareth Southgate believes VAR has not done anything to resolve controversial refereeing decisions.<\/p>\n
The off-field decision-making process has come under renewed fire this week after Liverpool were denied a fair goal in their defeat at Tottenham when VAR Darren England mistakenly thought the on-field decision was onside and inadvertently validated the linesman\u2019s offside call, with play restarting before the mistake was noticed.<\/p>\n
There has been a huge fallout from the gaffe, with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp calling for the game to be replayed while the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has announced a review into VAR and its practices.<\/p>\n
Southgate has always been against it and says nothing has changed from when on-field decisions were final.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, all I would say is everybody used to go to the pub and moan about the ref and they still go to the pub and moan about the ref,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m not sure what we\u2019ve resolved, really. I don\u2019t like it, never have, so I have sort of dismissed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just was always brought up as a kid that the referee\u2019s decision was final. You might agree or disagree but we have to get on with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t ever feel we were going to resolve every issue.<\/p>\n
All I would say is everybody used to go to the pub and moan about the ref and they still go to the pub and moan about the ref<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we are probably too far down the line now to go back but I didn\u2019t like it from the off.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you open up a technology opportunity, you are normally going that way and you have got to refine and improve on what happens. But yes, I don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PGMOL has taken unprecedented steps in recent times of retrospectively releasing audio of the decision-making process, including England\u2019s expletive-filled mistake at the weekend.<\/p>\n
But fans in the stadium remain in the dark at the time, often left waiting for up to five minutes while decisions are scrutinised in Stockley Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I am at games I am always conscious that the only people who don\u2019t know what is going on are the people who have paid to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI find that really difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sitting in the stadium next to people and I am lucky as I normally get a free ticket and other people pay a lot of money and haven\u2019t got a clue or are on the phone to someone at home asking what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe frustration, you can feel it in the stadium, you can feel the view.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know if we didn\u2019t have it people would go back to, \u2018well this could be resolved\u2019, but when I am in the stadiums my sense is they don\u2019t necessarily want 14 minutes of added time or a decision by something that they are not totally across the process of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou has said he does not know if he likes \u201cwhere the game\u2019s heading\u201d in the wake of the VAR controversy.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, prior to the audio emerging and Klopp\u2019s suggestion of a replay, Postecoglou questioned the game\u2019s pursuit of \u201cperfection\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told the paper: \u201cIt seems like we\u2019re now heading towards that space of trying to find perfection in a game where the beauty of it is the imperfection.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re trying to make this perfect game, which the other codes do \u2013 but they have to, because goals in their game don\u2019t mean anything, so they try and create this perfect product. And that\u2019s not football<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes our game different from any other game is that the goal \u2013 the actual goal, the scoring of a goal \u2013 is that most precious commodity. It\u2019s the flaws in the game that creates goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we think it\u2019s the brilliance \u2013 yeah, it is the brilliance, but mostly on the back of somebody\u2019s flaw, either an opposition player or your own teammate or a referee.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make this perfect game, which the other codes do \u2013 but they have to, because goals in their game don\u2019t mean anything, so they try and create this perfect product. And that\u2019s not football.<\/p>\n
\u201cFootball is Maradona putting it (in with) his hand. I don\u2019t like it, but that\u2019s the game, and if you want to eliminate that? Yes, OK, but if you\u2019re searching for perfection within football, I just think you take away from what the essence of it is.\u201d<\/p>\n