Graeme Souness blasts Prem’s ‘rock star refs’ and says VAR ‘should be a ‘doddle’

Graeme Souness has blasted the Premier League’s “rock star referees” and claimed VAR “should be a doddle” to operate.

VAR was introduced to Premier League football in 2019 with the aim of cutting out refereeing mistakes during matches. Referees' governing body PGMOL have come out twice already this season with apologies over officials getting major calls wrong.

Much of the talk over the past week has been dominated by the controversy which shrouded Liverpool’s visit to Tottenham, where the Reds had their opening goal chalked off due to a communication error by VAR officials. The debate has now moved on to whether Liverpool, who lost the game, should be able to have the fixture replayed.

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Now legendary Reds midfielder and retired pundit Souness has given his damning view on referees, with the Scot claiming their job should have been made far easier with the introduction of VAR.

His Daily Mail column read: “Officials are a far bigger part of the game now and it always makes me chuckle to see them walking onto the pitch like rock stars, warming up in sync as they cross the pitch. Some of them think they’re the stars of the game.

“VAR should have made their job a doddle. Because of the technology at their disposal now, it’s nigh-on impossible for these operators to make wrong calls.”

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Souness stated how referees are given luxuries such as being able to look at incidents from different angles several times and at different speeds, yet they are held back by their lack of understanding of the game.

He said: “They’re still making poor decisions because they truly just don’t understand the game. We’re getting howlers every week. These people can quote you every word that’s in the rule book, from the first sentence to the last, but they don’t know football.”

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The howler in the Liverpool game saw VAR official Darren England say “check complete” after seeing forward Luis Diaz was well onside, but England had forgotten that on-field referee Simon Hooper’s original decision was an incorrect offside.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp suggested that a replay would be the best course of action – but Premier League bosses are adamant it is not a possibility under their rules. Souness is in agreement with the league, believing that a replay would open up a whole can of worms for when other clubs feel “aggrieved”.

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