Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
It’s little wonder that Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, English football’s new favourite crusader against game-spoiling technology, will welcome the lack of VAR at the FA Cup third-round tie at Tamworth.
Postecoglou witnessed history in English football on Wednesday when – for the first time – referee Stuart Attwell explained a VAR decision to fans inside the stadium during a 1-0 semi-final first-leg win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.
It left the Spurs boss, post-match, questioning if the VAR announcement had given everyone a buzz and expressing bemusement at the little opposition there appeared to be, given how much technology has changed football in recent years.
His outburst earned him plenty of praise from football pundits in England, who are similarly unimpressed by so many of the technological advances which only seem to be stifling the flow of the sport, instilling confusion and dismay in supporters and turning games into wearisome stop-start spectacles.
But Postecoglou appeared to have given himself a self-imposed ban on speaking about VAR before a rare fixture without technology this weekend as VAR won’t be used in FA Cup ties until the fifth round.
“You asked me if I was relieved (at there being no VAR) and I said yes,” Postecoglou reflected.
“Look, I had my say after the game and felt I had to because I had to clarify my position on it.
“But at the same time, I am also mindful that I think sometimes I have overstepped the mark because in some of those situations, I talk as an individual and as a person who loves the game and is passionate about the game, but I am also representing this football club.
“I have just to be careful about how much I talk about it and I would rather talk about football to be honest.
“I think I have had my say on those kind of bits and I’ve left it for other to judge. I would much rather talk about football.”
There are 96 places between Tottenham and fifth-tier Tamworth, who play on an artificial surface, and Postecoglou revealed his players would train on a 4G pitch at the club’s training ground on Saturday in preparation for the fixture.
National League side Tamworth have already knocked out Huddersfield and Burton during a memorable cup run and they will be shown full respect by Spurs.
Postecoglou added: “We will respect the opponent because you always need to respect the opponent.
“I have enough experiences in my life of being the underdog and I know you are kind of almost hoping the team you play underestimate you, but we won’t.”
Asked how much of a culture shock The Lambs Ground – which holds only 4000 spectators – would be for his expensively-assembled squad, Postecoglou pointed out: “They are actually not multi-million dollar players, they are human beings.
“They are good people so they would never go to a place like that and disrespect it. Most have come from places like that. Some worse, let me tell you.
“So, I know people want to tag them as ‘multi-million dollars’ and maybe ‘spoilt’ but they are human beings and good people.
“They will go there and respect the fact that Tamworth will build it to be the biggest game of probably their lives.”
