The Tottenham boss watched on as his side fell to a 4-2 defeat at Brighton on Thursday evening, a result that keeps Spurs in fifth place and six points behind leaders Liverpool.
Brighton‘s second goal came from the penalty spot after a lengthy VAR review after Dejan Kulusevski clearly pulled Danny Welbeck by the shirt in the box.
Lewis Dunk then avoided a red card for a tackle on Kulusevski late in the match, and Postecoglou’s post-match remarks were dripping in sarcasm when it came to VAR’s role in proceedings.
“It was obviously clear and obvious because it only took him (VAR operator Peter Bankes) three minutes to see it on the screen,” he said.
“VAR picked up everything today except for the one tackle that might have cost me another player. That’s the decisions.”
In isolation, those comments are from a manager hurt by a defeat, but fans were not quick to forget that Postecoglou preached that errors “were part of the game” and “you have to cop it sometimes” after that Liverpool match in north London earlier this season:
The reference to respecting officials came after Tottenham‘s 4-1 defeat against Chelsea in November, when nine VAR checks led to more than 20 minutes of added time.
“I’ve never and I never will talk to a referee about the rules of the game,” Postecoglou said. “I was taught that you grow up and you respect the officials.”
That is the right attitude to have, undoubtedly, but the opportunity to raise concerns and demand change was snuffed out by opposition managers, including Postecoglou, in the immediate aftermath of the Luis Diaz ‘offside’ goal debacle.
It is easy to be dictated by events against you when it comes to referees and VAR, but the messaging is evidently not consistent, so no wonder nothing ever changes for the better.
