Urge referees to use the monitors

WE have not seen one official consult his pitchside monitor in the Premier League. Why is that? That is what they are there for. The incident involving Manchester City’s Rodri at the Etihad Stadium, when Erik Lamela bear-hugged him to the ground inside the box, was begging to be looked at. Michael Oliver is probably our best referee but he did not give it a second look. There has been a lot of discussion about VAR and the handball law but the bigger issue for me was the Rodri-Lamela clash. Referees have to be brave and use their monitors. VAR officials have to tell referees when they think a potential penalty might have been missed. Don’t just ignore the technology you have at your disposal. We have brought this into the English game, so embrace it. VAR will be good for football. It will even things up. It has long been assumed the big teams could bully the smaller ones, especially at home. I’ll admit I remember Liverpool being awarded penalties towards the end of games at Anfield and thinking: ‘Really?’ The referees were petrified. Now, it’s more of a level playing field.