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.
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.
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.
He said: “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),”
“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.”