Chaotic SPURS VAR gets Pochettino STILL off hook but... SUFFERING
JUST when you thought VAR could not get any more chaotic. Dele Alli’s referred equaliser had just been awarded — yet the scoreboard said ‘No goal’.
For the sake of clarity, it was awarded and Tottenham grabbed a point from a game that, for so long, they looked like losing.
If they had been defeated by Watford, Mauricio Pochettino could not have complained. For now, it is crisis averted. Just.
But when the relief of Alli’s controversial late equaliser subsides, Pochettino will dwell on a not her worryi ng Tot t e nham performance t hat was so f ar removed f rom what we have become accustomed to.
One victory in seven games says it all. Tottenham are labouring — and Pochettino is struggling to find the answers.
‘The performance wasn’t great but when you concede an early goal and the momentum of the team [is the way it is] it’s tough,’ said Pochettino. ‘We want to build the team again.
‘We were nervous — it wasn’t the way we want to play — but I understand that. It’s so difficult to play in this sort of situation.
‘ We never gave up and t he equaliser was fully deserved. That was the first step for us to build our confidence. After losing to Bayern Munich 7-3 our confidence was on the floor, so now we go step by step. We have football problems but we are football people and we have to find a way.’
You could almost hear a pin drop at full-time. Home supporters did not know quite how to react to this point against a team who remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
Still, the stunned silence would have been music to Pochettino’s ears compared to the boos that filled the stadium at half- time. Unfortunately for those with Spurs connections, it is becoming an all too familiar sound.
You cannot blame the home fans, though. Spurs were insipid, bland, almost lifeless. They went in 1-0 down at half-time; they were fortunate Watford stopped there.
Pochettino’s decision to switch to a 3-5-2 formation for this encounter, in a move that mirrored Watford’s system, smacked of negativity. Why were Tottenham matching up a team who have not won a league game since April? But it sums up exactly where Tottenham are at present: hesitant and l acking utterly in conviction.
Christian Eriksen, injured during the international break, missed the clash against Watford. By the sixth minute, the Dane would have been counting his dead leg as a blessing — Abdoulaye Doucoure firing the visitors ahead following Daryl Janmaat’s inch-perfect low cross.
The home fans tried to keep the faith. But their team were not giving them any reason to be hopeful.
Spurs were lucky not to concede a 38th- minute penalty when Jan Vertonghen’s clumsy l unge on Gerard Deulofeu, who came on for an injured Danny Welbeck in the fifth minute, called VAR into play. Pochettino recognised his error in starting with three at the back, switching to a four-man defence in the second half in a move that saw Heung-son Min replace Davinson Sanchez.
The change almost paid dividends, the Korean cracking a fierce shot on to the crossbar in the 49th minute to raise hope of a Spurs revival. Tottenham, though, continued to meander. And it was not like stand-in goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, deputising while No 1 Hugo Lloris recovers from an elbow injury, was providing any sort of confidence either.
Gradually, though, Tottenham mustered a response. Crosses were raining in, while striker Harry Kane was beginning to find himself in dangerous areas inside the box.
Yet Spurs were forced to rely on a c a l a mitous misunderstanding between keeper Ben Foster and defender Kiko Femenia to secure their point in the 86th minute.
Foster looked to have the situation under control before Femenia tried to intervene. Alli was in no mood to hang around as he picked up the loose ball before firing into an empty net. Even then Spurs
were forced to sweat on their equaliser as referee Chris Kavanagh referred the goal to VAR for a potential handball from Alli. Watford were furious the goal was not ruled out for a foul by Harry Kane in the build-up.
Confusion continued to reign even after Kavanagh had signalled for a goal as the scoreboard suggested the goal had been ruled out.
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores and his bench were livid, clearly pointing to the scoreboard. Nothing doing, t hough — t he official line was that an ‘incorrect graphic’ had been displayed.
Hawk-Eye, the technology supplier, even released a statement to ‘apologise to the Spurs and Watford fans for the confusion caused’ and said it was working with the Premier League and PGMOL to ‘understand the root cause of the problem and propose measures to ensure it won’t happen again’.
Regardless, Spurs were level. Watford were heartbroken. ‘I was thinking VAR was objective but I’m beginning to think it’s very subjective,’ said Sanchez Flores.
‘It is a foul by Kane, he pushed with two hands. It is weird, there are many interpretations. It would be good to know what happened.’
There was still time for further drama as both sides were involved in a mass confrontation, sparked by a stand-off between Alli and Tom Cleverley.