Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham would NOT have allowed Liverpool to score after Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly disallowed – as he insists ‘a faultless system doesn’t exist’ amid fury over VAR blunder
- Ange Postecoglou says there is not a ‘faultless system’ amid fury over VAR
- Spurs boss would not have let Liverpool score despite goal wrongly chalked off
- Click HERE to listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s ‘It’s All Kicking Off’
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has dismissed suggestions that his side could have let Liverpool score an uncontested goal after Luis Diaz’s goal was wrongly disallowed against them last week.
Spurs beat the Reds 2-1 in the 96th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium through a Joel Matip own goal following a highly-contentious match that saw Liverpool receive two controversial red cards.
Liverpool were left seething when Diaz’s first half strike was chalked off after Simon Hooper adjudged him as offside – with VAR acknowledging the Colombian as onside but mistakenly beliving the on-field referee had awarded the goal.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp this week insisted the game should be replayed and the topic of the game has been hotly-debated this week among pundits and fans – though Postecoglou insisted he would not have allowed Liverpool to go up the other end and score following the incident.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou said he would not have allowed Liverpool to score an uncontested goal after Luis Diaz’s strike was wrongly disallowed
VAR ruled out a Diaz’s goal during Tottenham’s controversial 2-1 win last week, despite replays clearly showing he was being played onside by Cristian Romero
Marcelo Bielsa famously ordered his Leeds players to allow Aston Villa to score against them following a contentious goal in 2019
‘I just don’t see that,’ he said at his press conference ahead of Spurs’ trip to Luton on Saturday afternoon.
‘If we want managers to be the arbiters of these kind of things. We’ve got pretty hefty responsibilities at our football clubs but we’re not the custodians. I wouldn’t make a decision that could potentially send a club down on the back of what my beliefs are.
‘In that moment, if somebody could tell me that they could explain everything that went on within the prism of 30 seconds…. I have to make a decision and it wasn’t going to happen.
‘It’s different if it’s something clear. It was a bad error through a lack of communication but it wasn’t something that was easily explainable. If it was easily explainable, I would assume there would have been [less] uproar than there was.’
In 2019, Marcelo Bielsa did allow an opposition side to score against his team after Mateusz Klich scored a goal against Aston Villa despite the away side stopping following an injury to Jonathan Kodjia – expecting Tyler Roberts to put the ball out of play before he continued playing.
Postecoglou insisted managers are ‘not the custodians’ as the fallout from the VAR blunder continues this week
PGMOL apologised for Diaz’s goal being ruled out and have since released the VAR audio
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The Australian said he was not aware that a significant error had been made until after the game – but insisted that an ‘errorless, faultless system’ does not exist and never will do.
‘I don’t think anyone realised that something significant had happened during the game,’ he added. ‘It was only when I got to the press conference that I knew something important must have been happening. A fairly significant adventure in a game of football.
‘Whatever I say will be seen through the prism that we were the beneficiaries of a mistake and we certainly were. The facts of it are that there was a legitimate goal that wasn’t given. It became clear it wasn’t an integrity issue, it was a mistake in communication that cost Liverpool a goal.
‘We want an errorless faultless system that doesn’t exist and will never exist, unless we want to turn our game into a n event that goes for four hours while we’re explaining every decision.’
Postecoglou – whose side are unbeaten this season following five wins and two draws – also expressed sympathy with VAR official Darren England, who he hoped would not be punished by being prevented from officiating again this season.
VAR official Darren England (left) and VAR assistant Dan Cook (right) were dropped from their roles for upcoming fixtures after the high-profile error
‘I don’t know if that’s been decided. I’d be surprised if they have gone that way. It’s a significant error but it’s a human being that’s made that error. I don’t think that there’s anything that needs to go too far reaching.
‘I think everyone just wants to make sure what happened doesn’t happen again.
‘And that’s another thing, don’t ask managers and players about the rules of the game. We don’t know half of them. The referees do. We shouldn’t be commenting on them because if a referee commented on the tactics of the game we’d all be jumping up and down as well.
‘From my perspective when I listened to that audio, saying ‘check complete’, someone obviously thought it was a good way of finalising things and it’s worked up until now.
‘I would have thought the logical thing is to say ‘goal for Liverpool’ and there isn’t anything but I’m saying that with the ignorance of not knowing how it’s truly set up.
‘When listening to that you probably think there’s better ways of communicating a clear decision in such a big situation. I hope that’s what they’re addressing, not the individual that made the mistake. I think that’s a dereliction of the game.
‘That’s like me hanging out a player to dry just because he made a mistake. My role is to go in and help that player to improve not say “now you’re never playing again”.’
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