VAR has had lots of coverage since it was implemented into the leagues. It is agreeable that VAR can be helpful to some degree. However, many problems accompany it like the inconsistency of usage. Tottenham Hotspur FC manager, Jose Mourinho, has now spoken up about his problems with VAR.
Tottenham lost 1-3 against Sheffield United on Thursday night. In the post-game interviews, Mourinho was frustrated enough to speak about the use of VAR and how his team played.
In the 31 minute, Sheffield United player, Sander Berge, was able to put in a goal. A minute later, Harry Kane scored for Tottenham.
Although after a VAR check, the goal was disallowed. Tottenham player, Lucas Moura was penalized by VAR for a handball. VAR official, Michael Oliver, believed that the goal couldn’t count because of the handball. However, Moura was pushed by a Sheffield player that left Moura on top of the ball. He stuck his hand out to catch himself, not intentionally touching the ball. The call was wrong, but the ruling wasn’t changed.
This led to Mourinho speaking up about the power of VAR. He believes that VAR has now become the primary use of officializing games, instead of using the ground official.
“I think I cannot say what I feel. It’s not the referee anymore,” Mourinho said.
“The man on the pitch is the assistant referee, the man and lady with the flags are now the assistants of the assistant referees.
“The referee should be the man on the pitch. We are going into a direction which is really bad for what is a beautiful game.”
Mourinho makes a good point. There needs to be a decision on how VAR is used. Should it be used to review every play? Can officials make the same judgment calls in every game to make it fair? Shouldn’t there be a double check on VAR’s decision?
Regardless of how Mourinho felt about VAR, he couldn’t ignore the fact that Tottenham should’ve played better.
“We have to do better,” Mourinho said.
“We have to be mentally stronger to cope with what happened in the game. We cannot mentally die after Michael Oliver’s decision.
“I know it’s difficult to take. In the second half we had ball but we didn’t have chances to change the game.”
Hopefully, the leagues will finally hear the people’s cries on how VAR is used. There is hope that VAR can change and become better. The role of VAR is to assist in games, not completely rule the game. Mourinho may be able to get away with talking badly about VAR, unlike Pique.
