After his team’s contentious victory over Liverpool, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has ruled out the possibility of a repeat.
WHAT OCCURED? A replay of Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Spurs last weekend was deemed necessary by manager Jurgen Klopp after video assistant referees (VAR) failed to step in when Luis Diaz’s rightful goal was wrongly overturned. When asked about the likelihood of a rematch with the Merseyside team before of the north London team’s encounter against Luton Town on Saturday, Postecoglou responded quite bluntly.
WHAT THEY SAID: When asked if he was making time for a repeat of the Liverpool match, he responded to TNT Sports: “No, definitely not. With everything we’ve discussed, there’s little doubt that this week will see some attention paid to it. Since that is what interests me the most, I’m hoping we are chatting more about football. I understand why last week’s events are being discussed; they were very important. However, we have a difficult football battle against a good football squad today (Saturday).
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Although VAR correctly renders verdicts in over 90% of cases, it is debatably unpopular in English football. But rather than the technological system itself, it is more important for the officials to know how to use the tools correctly. High-profile errors continue to occur, but the PGMOL, the refereeing organization, is working to improve accountability and transparency. Replaying games as a result of poor refereeing calls won’t happen, though, since that would start a whole new can of worms.
