'Going to be refereed by AI!' - Ange Postecoglou fumes at VAR again after Tottenham's defeat at Chelsea is marred by 12 minutes of 'clear and obvious' goal checks

Tottenham’s struggles in the Premier League continued on Thursday night as they slumped to a narrow 1-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea secured all three points thanks to a second-half strike from Enzo Fernandez, leaving Ange Postecoglou’s men languishing in 14th place in the table, with just ten wins in 30 matches.

The result, however, was quickly overshadowed by another contentious VAR intervention, which saw Tottenham’s potential equaliser ruled out after a lengthy review. The incident occurred in the 69th minute when Pape Sarr thought he had brought Spurs level, only for referee Craig Pawson to be summoned to the pitchside monitor. Following a painstaking six-minute delay, the goal was eventually disallowed for a foul in the buildup - a decision that left Postecoglou fuming.

Speaking after the match, the Australian manager did not hold back his thoughts on the use of video technology, questioning the entire direction football is heading.

"But see that's the problem, whether I think it's a foul or not, what does it matter? What matters is, VAR was called in for clear and obvious errors," he told reporters.

"I’ve said this a few times already. We all sat on our couches last night and watched an incident where I reckon if I did a straw poll and asked: ‘After the first replay what did you think?’ How long did it take tonight? Six minutes. For a clear and obvious error."
He added: "Who cares if it was a foul or not? There were so many incidents out there. What does it matter? What’s the point of having a referee then? Clear and obvious means you go to the screen, standing around for six minutes. Not me, because I’m very vocal about it, we all accept it. It’s going to be refereed by AI soon. Like I said, we might as well dispense with the players at some point when some genius comes up with a game with no participants at some point. Referees aren’t refereeing.

"If anyone believes when VAR was brought in we would be sitting around for six minutes with a microscope. It’s irrelevant if it’s a foul. It’s totally irrelevant. Then they will say they came there with a decision. But that’s irrelevant. Jarrod Gillet was on VAR tonight but maybe if he had been on VAR last night maybe he would have come to a different outcome. I don’t like it, mate, I’ve never liked it, I don’t see how it’s benefitted our game."

Tottenham are set to face Southampton on Sunday, a match that will likely be seen as a must-win given the Saints are at the bottom of the standings. Following the domestic fixture, Spurs will turn their attention to European competition, hosting Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final next Thursday.