Pardew Criticises VAR Despite West Brom Win

Alan Pardew has slammed the use of VAR, for causing his players injuries and confusing the fans in West Brom’s win over Liverpool.

The VAR disallowed a goal for Pardew’s men and awarded a penalty to Liverpool in the first half.

Robson-Kanu and Gibbs had to be forced off with muscle problem, while Evans and Livermore struggled in the closing stages.

He also believes the use of VAR could sap some of the entertainment from matches, even if the decisions are ultimately right.

“It’s hard to know where to start,” he told a news conference when asked about the incidents. “You guys are all experienced reporters and have seen many games but I don’t think that’s what you want to see going forward.

“If you’re a Liverpool fan or a West Brom fan, there’s no communication from the referee to us, like in the NFL. We didn’t know what the decision was, why it was being stopped.

“He reverses the Dawson goal and I think that, were it not for the system, would never be disallowed in any league game. The fourth official told me it was for offside, which is a bit of a surprise from a corner. I’ve looked at it and it’s marginal, really marginal.

“I think there’s a question there; are we going to start taking goals away from the entertainment of the games on those slight margins? I think that’s a worry.

“The second one, you can argue Jake has lifted his arm to stop him. Would Salah have got it, in a normal game without VAR? I don’t know.

“The bigger worry for me is it was four minutes, maybe five for the decision, so you’re going from a high-tempo work rate to nothing. We had a hamstring [injury] just after that.

“I think our fans started singing, ‘it should’ve been four’. Whether they’d seen it on the phones after, or something. Because of social media, it gets flashed down the line, so do you really want fans to get it third hand or do you actually want to know in the stadium?

“As a football person, on the sideline, I wasn’t comfortable with that first half. It was kind of mysterious at times.”

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