Outrage from Pochettino as VAR is criticized for its impact on English football in the wake of Aston Villa draw

In the aftermath of Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday, manager Mauricio Pochettino has delivered a scathing assessment of VAR.

Falling behind by two goals in the first half, the Blues mounted a comeback in the second period to restore parity.

An apparent winning goal by Axel Disasi was disallowed by VAR, leaving Chelsea with a share of the points and in 9th place with 48 points.

Expressing his frustration post-match, Pochettino expressed, “There are two different elements: the referee initially called a foul and disallowed the goal, then the VAR was called upon to verify.

“The decisions are baffling and nonsensical. It’s unacceptable to encounter such situations; just a fortnight ago in the FA Cup semifinal against Man City, there was a handball that went unpunished – the referee failed to review it.

“It’s distressing as it has had a detrimental effect on English football, and I believe both Villa’s players and supporters were left perplexed by the disallowed goal.

“The reasoning was a foul, but if we scrutinize every challenge in the same manner, it will be deemed a foul and we’d be unable to maintain 11 players till the final whistle.

“Whether it’s about the team’s performance or the decisions made – it’s undercutting the essence of the game.”