Pochettino, very harsh after the disallowed goal: “The VAR damaged English football and the image of football” :: Olé

Chelsea drew 2-2 against Aston Villa this Saturday afternoon, as part of matchday 35 of the Premier League. However, controversy was present in the match, because at the end the VAR annulled the goal that could have given the Blues the victory. The reason? A foul by Benoît Badiashile on Diego Carlos. That is why, after the game, Mauricio Pochettino was very harsh with the decision…

“A week ago against Manchester City there was a handball in the area and no penalty was awarded. VAR damaged the image of English football and the image of football. It was a goal. “It’s incredible and ridiculous.” expressed the Argentine, angry with the annulled goal.

“I think everyone who was watching the game feels disappointed. I think that’s how it is… I think we need to explain it to people too, right? I think they are two different things. The referee did not see the action on the field. What he saw was not a foul for him, but then the VAR changed the decision. If the referee had said, ‘it was a foul’, and then went to the VAR to confirm the decision, then it’s fine, no problem. But the referee saw the action, he didn’t see any foul and then he went to check the VAR,” Pochettino added.

“I don’t want to speak badly about the referee. Is incredible. It’s ridiculous. It’s hard to accept this kind of thing. In the semi-final two weeks ago I was humbled in the FA Cup (1-0 defeat against City). And that is not criminal. And the VAR says that it is not a penalty and the referee did not review it and in this situation, yes. “I don’t think even the Aston Villa players or even the fans understood why the goal was disallowed,” said the DT.

Now with the magnifying glass on the match, Pochettino highlighted that for him it was key that, after the strong 5-0 win against Arsenal, the team managed to have a boost of energy: “For me, the most important thing after Arsenal is that the team showed great character and personality. “And we showed that with the way we fought in the second half, even if we didn’t deserve to be down 2-0 in the first half.”

“I think the way we changed the energy and dominated a good team like Aston Villa, I think it shows everyone that we are capable of competing. “If you analyze the 99 minutes, I think we were better,” the Argentine mentioned.

Finally, in relation to his future as Chelsea manager, Pochettino closed by saying that he still has to sit down and talk to the leaders: “We need to evaluate the players and project for the future, but that is something that the owners, sporting directors and we will have to talk. “We are open to talking and seeing when we talk.”

Chelsea have just four games left to complete the Premier League, against Tottenham, West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Brighton respectively.

And at this moment, the Blues are ninth in the Premier League table, with 48 points, five points behind Newcastle, which occupies the seventh and only place that gives classification to the Conference League, and six behind Manchester United, which is sixth and in a qualifying position for the Europa League. Will the Blues manage to get into any of the international cups?