Jan Vertonghen says players will be forced to change how they defend in response to VAR, after Tottenham conceded an “extremely weird” penalty against Manchester City.
Heung-min Son’s goal earned Spurs a deserved 1-0 win but it could have been so different had Sergio Aguero converted a 13th-minute spot-kick, after Danny Rose was judged to have blocked a shot with his arm.
Referee Björn Kuipers initially awarded a corner, to no protests from City’s players, only to be informed of a potential infringement by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). He changed his decision to a penalty after consulting a replay but Hugo Lloris blocked Aguero’s tame effort.
Vertonghen admitted players must adapt to the technology and suggested Marcus Rashford’s winner in Manchester United’s win at Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 was another soft penalty decision.
In Pictures | Tottenham vs Man City, Champions League | 09/04/2019
“No one expected it,” said the centre-half. “They [City’s players] didn’t even appeal for it, so it was extremely weird to concede a penalty like this. That’s VAR. In a way it’s good but I’m not always a fan.
“It takes a lot away from the game. But if we got a penalty in this way I would be very happy. Football is always a very emotional game and VAR is changing that a bit.
"So many things look like a penalty in slow-motion. The PSG-United game, everything looks like a penalty now.
“We have to change the way we defend. We are not pulling people down but even a small touch, if you watch it 20 times in slow motion, will give so many more penalties.
“We all need to adapt. The players, the referees. Sometimes you can’t do anything else than put your body on the line. It’s important that referees think as a football player sometimes.
“You can’t even touch anyone. Before it was quite physical but now you are too scared to get close to someone.”
Rose, who was booked for the handball, echoed Vertonghen’s sentiments when he said defenders would have to adapt their playing style because of VAR.
He added: “It’s unnatural to defend with your arms behind your back but there’s not much I can do. I have to learn from it. If VAR wasn’t there I would have got away with it.”
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, a long-standing critic of the technology, said: “It [the penalty incident] showed there is still a lot of work to do on the system. I’m very worried about how it’s going to work next season.”
