Mauricio Pochettino Says "There’s a Lot of Work to Do With VAR'
Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has voiced his concerns about the introduction of video assistant referees in next season's Premier League.
Spurs defeated Manchester City 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie courtesy of Heung-min Son's low drive in the closing minutes of their encounter.
However, City were awarded a controversial penalty - which Hugo Lloris saved - in the opening half following a VAR referral. A corner had initially been given when Raheem Sterling's effort clattered off of Danny Rose's outstretched arm before a subsequent review deemed the incident a handball.
The decision echoed events at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League round-of-16 last month, when Manchester United were presented with a spot-kick after referee Damir Skomina utilised the technology to analyse a Presnel Kimpembe block.
Both that episode and Tuesday night's drew considerable criticism and left viewers bemused, with Pochettino amongst those feeling uneasy about the new technology, which will be used in the Premier League next season.
In his post-match press conference the Spurs boss stated (as quoted by football.london): "I didn’t want to see it now. There’s a lot of work to do with VAR.
"I’m going to try to help with VAR and the system to settle the protocol that can help the referee, but today I think it showed that there is still a lot of work to do on the system. We know there are many decision that no one knows if VAR is going to be used or not, to check or not."
The Argentine continued: "Maybe technically it’s a penalty because it was handball, but we do not know the protocol. I know next season a touch intentional or no intention it’s going to be a penalty, but today no.
"There are a lot of question marks and a lot of work to do. Coaching staff, players and the referee have work to do to translate to you and the fans. I think it’s going to change the spirit of the game and I’m very worried about how it’s going to work next season."
