Ange Postecoglou has said VAR is ruining football, savaged Video Assistant Referee Jarred Gillett and issued a warning to reporter Patrick Davison after Tottenham had a spectacular Pape Matar Sarr equaliser ruled out in their 1-0 Premier League defeat at Chelsea on Thursday.
Sarr caught goalkeeper Robert Sanchez out with a strike from 40 yards with 21 minutes remaining, only for Gillett to disallow the effort following a lengthy check, with referee Craig Pawson booking the Spurs midfielder for a foul on Moises Caicedo.
“Tell me what’s clear and obvious about it mate?!”
Ange Postecoglou is NOT happy with the referee ruling out Pape Matar Sarr’s goal 😤 pic.twitter.com/OweJQL2ZXo
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2025
Postecoglou: VAR ‘crazy’
“You’re standing around for 12 minutes,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports after 14th-placed Spurs slipped to their 16th league defeat of a troubled campaign.
“It’s killing the game. It’s not the same game it used to be. You just don’t know what you’re going to get. No-one cares about that – everyone loves the drama, the controversy. I’m sure there’ll be 24-hour discussions about it.
“That’s what everyone wants. They’re not interested in it killing the spectacle of the game. If the referee saw that and then [Gillett] needs to see that for six minutes, tell me what’s clear and obvious about it. It’s crazy. It’s madness.”
“They’ve got every right to be angry.”
James Maddison says the players are just as disappointed as the Spurs fans 💬 pic.twitter.com/X4cdGUr6Ov
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2025
Postecoglou interview: ‘Was it clear and obvious?’
Caicedo volleyed in a second for Chelsea before Sarr’s effort, only for a long VAR check to deem Levi Colwill offside.
Postecoglou was unimpressed when Davison said the correct decision had been reached on Sarr’s goal, responding by comparing the incident to James Tarkowski’s foul on Liverpool forward Alexis Mac Allister on Wednesday, when the Everton defender escaped a red card in a decision officiating body the PGMOL acknowledged afterwards was wrong.
“You can try to force me into a corner,” Postecoglou told Davison. “You are. Did you think last night was a red card? Was it clear and obvious? If you have to watch something quite a few times, is that clear and obvious?
“I guess people like you will continue to be happy sitting on your couches for six minutes waiting for clear and obvious stuff. I don’t agree with it, but that’s fine.”
Pape Matar Sarr beats Robert Sanchez from distance with a great finish, but VAR has a look and the goal is disallowed with a foul on Moises Caicedo in the build-up 🎥 pic.twitter.com/I3FH85RpKO
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 3, 2025
Liverpool vs Everton ‘different with Gillett’
“Last night, we all sat on our couches, saw one replay and said ‘oh my god’,” Postecoglou observed of Tarkowski’s dreadful 11th-minute tackle on Mac Allister.
“Tonight, we sat there and waited for six minutes for something that, apparently, VAR official Jarred Gillett thought was clear and obvious. I guarantee you, if Jarred Gillett was the VAR last night, we’d have got a different outcome.”
Tottenham fixtures
Both of Tottenham’s attempts on target came after the break in a game that ensured only the bottom four have taken fewer points than Postecoglou’s side from 30 league games.
Their campaign hinges on their Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt, who are third in Germany and visit London for the first leg on April 10 (20:00 BST).
Spurs will seek a first league win in five games when they host Southampton on Sunday (14:00 BST). They beat the rock-bottom side 5-0 away on December 15.
