Tottenham reliance on VAR totally unacceptable
By Gary Pearson
United’s equalizing goal by Fred saw three Tottenham defenders inexplicably quit on the play, all of whom raising their hands in a desperate offside plea.
Before everyone gets too wound up, I’m not speaking about United’s first half disallowed goal. Scott McTominay’s flailing arm that caught Son Heung-min flush in the face early in the move was, by the letter of the law, unquestionably an infraction. VAR helped Chris Kavanagh get the decision right, precisely the reason VAR was introduced.
Fast forward to the 57th minute when disaster struck at the heart of Tottenham’s vulnerable defensive core.
Eric Dier, who made his first start since the debacle in Zagreb, played a key part in allowing Edison Cavani and Fred in on Hugo Lloris. The out-of-sorts Englishman gave up on the play, resorting lazily, even before Fred banged home the rebound, to a futile plea for offside. Had Dier persisted, he may have been able to clear the rebound before Fred pounced to equalize.
Joe Rodon and Sergio Reguilon, in almost synchronized fashion, threw their hands up, mirroring Dier’s misguided offside plea. Rodon and Reguilon were arguably less at fault due to their positioning, both of whom had too much ground to make up.
But the predisposition of modern players to rely so heavily on offside and VAR is a troubling development. It’s one thing to throw up an arm in hopes of offside in the aftermath of a goal. It’s quite another to give up on a live play with the sole intent of inducing the offside flag or eventually having VAR save your blushes.
Historically I’ve been a big proponent of Dier’s, hoping he’d rebound and come good after the rash of injuries and bout of ill-health he endured. But the Englishman has sunk to new inexplicable, unforgivable new lows this campaign.
He has repeatedly, through needless errors, laziness or mental lapses, cost Tottenham countless points in the standings.
Though he shouldn’t shoulder total blame. Jose Mourinho, for lack of options or a unfailing devotion to Dier, must take accountability for continually giving the Englishman the chance at redemption.
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By now Jose must be thinking: fool me once, shame on you; fool me innumerable times, shame on me.