Ange Postecoglou claims he is ‘the lone voice’ against VAR and laments goal celebration | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has claimed that he is “the lone voice” speaking against VAR, adding that he “made a mistake” in celebrating his side’s disallowed goal in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea.

Postecoglou’s tongue-in-cheek comment referenced a disallowed goal scored by Pape Sarr, which provoked a reaction from the Australian in which he cupped his ear in a gesture towards Spurs fans.

And the 59-year-old has claimed he won’t celebrate a goal before a VAR check again, before further criticising VAR and its application in the Premier League.

“I made a mistake last night in that I celebrated a goal,” deadpanned the Australian in a Friday morning press conference. “I felt the need to celebrate and it could be a real momentum shift to finish strong.

“My mistake was celebrating a goal, VAR defeated me, I won’t be doing that again.”

There were over six minutes of VAR checks in the match against Chelsea, with Postecoglou saying in his post-match interview that VAR “is killing the game”, pointing out that the technology is supposed to be used for clear and obvious errors.

Postecoglou also referenced clear errors that the assistant referees are making, mentioning the decision to not give James Tarkowski a red card in Wednesday’s Merseyside derby.

Tottenham’s equaliser was disallowed by VAR (EPA)

And in his press conference before the weekend match against Southampton, the Spurs boss re-iterated his comments criticising the use of VAR.

“I’ve tried to design a game plan that has tempo and energy because I feel if you want people in there, you want them off their seat. There was 12 minutes of extra time yesterday, that’s not why VAR was brought in,” he added, referencing the two checks for goals scored by Sarr and Moises Caicedo.

"I am the lone voice. I don’t hear anyone else saying. That’s why I am sat here and saying maybe I am disconnected. When I retire, I will probably watch less football and find another hobby.”