'Just accept referees’ decisions' - Gareth Southgate on VAR after Spurs-Liverpool

England manager Gareth Southgate looks on during the Three Lions' game against Scotland in September 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

England manager Gareth Southgate has admitted he is not a fan of VAR after Saturday's controversial clash between Tottenham and Liverpool in the Premier League.

Liverpool were denied a perfectly good goal in the first half at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with refereeing committe PGMOL apologising to the Reds for the mix-up after the match.

Meanwhile, the Reds also had two players sent off against Spurs, with a Premier League panel now admitting that Diogo Jota's red card in the second half was also an incorrect decision.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Southgate said: "Well, when you say I was at the forefront of it, I wasn't for it."

And, in reference to England's UEFA Nations league semi-final defeat in 2019, he added: "My first experience of it…we're still not sure if the Jesse Lingard goal that knocked us out of a semi-final was legit or not.

“I don't like it. I think we should just accept referees’ decisions, but I also know that we’re unlikely to go back to a world where we don’t have technology as part of that decision-making process.

"It was never going to resolve every issue and I don’t think there is any solution that will achieve that."

Southgate has named a 26-man squad for England's forthcoming games against Australia and Italy later this month.

More Tottenham-Liverpool stories

Tottenham vs Liverpool: why was Luis Diaz's goal wrongly disallowed by VAR?

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp blasts 'unfair' and 'crazy' decisions in Saturday's Premier League clash, while Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou admits he is not a fan of VAR.

And Klopp has suggested that the only fair outcome would be to replay the game against Spurs.

Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.