Ange Postecoglou has dismissed Jurgen Klopp’s call to have the Tottenham and Liverpool game replayed but has said the VAR should be scrapped in its current form.
Liverpool were wrongly denied an opening goal in their 2-1 defeat at Tottenham last weekend due to an error by VAR operator Darren England.
Luis Diaz’s strike was given offside by the on-pitch officials, but England mistakenly thought they had made an onside call.
Diaz was onside and England confirmed that decision before realising the misunderstanding meant he had given the green light for the game to restart with the goal disallowed.
Tottenham boss Postecoglou on Friday accepted Liverpool were denied a “legitimate goal” due to the mistake.
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Referees body the Professional Game Match Officials Limited admitted it was a “significant human error”, with Liverpool manager Klopp saying a replay was the fairest solution.
There is no suggestion of a replay being considered by Premier League chiefs, but Postecoglou was willing to admit his side had a lucky break.
“The facts of it are that it was a legitimate goal Liverpool scored that wasn’t given,” the Australian said.
“You kind of look at why it’s not given because that’s the first thing you question: obviously something has broken down.
“It became clear it wasn’t an integrity issue. It wasn’t a misappropriation of the law. It was an error in communication, a mistake, a mistake which cost Liverpool.”
Postecoglou though did not agree with Klopp that replaying the game would be the fair solution.
“There’s got to be some sort of threshold and I don’t think a mistake is the threshold for that,” he said.
“If we strayed into integrity or misappropriation of the law then maybe there’s something there, but ultimately, when you strip it all back, it was a mistake.
“It was unique and unprecedented, but it was still a mistake.
“If your threshold for a replay is mistakes by individuals, then that’s 365 games a year I reckon.”
Postecoglou went on to claim the VAR should be scrapped in “its current form”.
“I just don’t think that technology is ready for our game,” he said.
“I’ve got zero against goal-line technology. It’s a no-brainer and it works for our game.
“Our game is unique.
“People say, ‘Let’s get referees explaining their decisions’. Oh my God – seriously? Could you imagine sitting there listening to a referee explaining every decision in the game?
“I’m going to the gridiron on Sunday – I love American football. But it’s three and a half hours.
“The measure of who was a good referee was the ones you never noticed and now we’re trying to make them the stars of the show.
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“We’re analysing, in slow motion, yellow cards. We, as managers and players, are the worst for it because we talk about integrity but I bet if you watch a game tonight, the first throw-in, both teams will appeal for it. We’re trying to take advantage and there’s nothing wrong with that.
“With VAR, the more we use it the worse it’s going to get. Clear and obvious error? It seems like everything is getting scrutinised.
“It’s not our game. We’re not rugby, we don’t have those stoppages. What I always loved about our game — especially in England — was the frenetic pace. Why are we trying to take that out? None of us liked it when they were taking too long over a decision and last week it sounded like they were rushing it. Maybe that’s a consequence.
“That suggests to me the technology in its current form is not suitable to our game but I know I’ll be in the minority with that.
“I don’t know what the game’s going to look like in 20 years and I’m not sure I’m going to like it.”
Postecoglou also pleaded for understanding to be shown towards the widely-criticised England.
“It’s a significant error but it’s a human being that’s made that error,” he said.
“I don’t think that there’s anything that needs to go too far-reaching.”
Elsewhere, Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has called for the VAR system to be simplified, saying he “trusts the car but the driver is the problem” following the costly Liverpool goal blunder.
Pochettino is in favour of the technology, but the Argentine would like to see it simplified.
“I trust in the VAR and how we manage the VAR. I trust in the car but the driver? That is the problem,” he said on Friday.
“For me it is about simplifying the situation. After many years seeing how things work, the most important is to return and give the power more to the referee.”
Pochettino wants offside and goal-line calls checked by VAR, but would prefer other on-pitch decisions to be left up to the referee and his assistants.
“Offside and goal-line decisions, they are the only two to keep (for VAR),” he said.
“Trust in the referee because at the moment we are not happy with VAR, we are not happy with the people that manage the VAR, but worse is we are not happy with the referee and that is the problem.
“We need to think a little bit in the future. Maybe one step back, maybe make things easier and more clear.”