Thomas Tuchel called the standard of refereeing at the World Cup unreliable and erratic as he insisted England are capable of going all the way following their dramatic 3-2 victory against Mexico.
Tuchel fumed after his side held on with 10 men at the Azteca stadium on Sunday night, saying that officials across the board have not been up to scratch at the finals tournament. The German, who was unhappy with Jarell Quansah being sent off for a bad tackle after a review following a recommendation by the video assistant referee, claimed that players do not know what to expect during games and he warned that teams are at risk of being knocked out because of poor refereeing decisions.
“It’s not good enough,” Tuchel said. “He [the referee] can send any team out in any moment. It’s just not good enough. It’s just erratic, it’s just unreliable in matches. Now we have two fourth officials who just scream at you if you put one foot out of a coaching zone. It’s just not good enough.”
Tuchel was clearly unhappy with the on-pitch officials from the start against Mexico. He raged when Declan Rice was booked by the Iranian referee, Alireza Faghani, for a foul in the first minute.
Quansah will be suspended for the quarter-final against Norway in Miami on Saturday after he was dismissed following a review for his tackle on Jesús Gallardo. Meanwhile Mexico’s second goal came after another check led to a penalty being awarded for a foul by Harry Kane.
Tuchel, who has lost Jordan Henderson for the rest of the finals tournament after the midfielder sustained a broken wrist during the celebrations at full time, was asked if he will speak to his players about the impact of VAR. “What can they do?” he said. “We give everything and then decisions are overturned in a very questionable way.
“But it’s not only about the big decisions, the little decisions, the consistency in the decisions. You’re just out there, it’s like almost on the open sea, in front of the court, you don’t know what’s going to happen. They’re just not on the level.
“You play high level now. The so‑called underdogs, the so‑called little nations, like we played [DR] Congo, they play on the highest level. Cape Verde plays on the highest level. You need highest‑level refereeing. There are only athletes out there. The game has changed massively and it’s just not good enough. It’s just not good enough for the players, for the game.”
Do you really think that Harry in this moment thinks ‘Oh, VAR!’? He just goes to the ball and there’s a contact, it’s contact sport. We cannot look at stills and think: ‘Oh, contact, penalty.’
“In real life there is a way of how the game flows and how you referee and some referees are like: ‘No, I don’t allow too much contact.’ Some say: ‘No, now it’s an emotional game, I let the contacts go.’ There are contacts. You cannot look at the still and go: ‘There was a leg in between.’ Come on. You don’t even give a foul and then you go to a red card. You don’t give a foul and then you go to penalty.”
Tuchel is optimistic that England will push on after defying Mexico’s formidable record at the Azteca. “It fuels our belief that we are here to stay,” he said. “We are in a part of a tournament, round of 32, round of 16, where you just need to find a way to stay in the tournament, you need to find a way to win. Then, from the quarter-final, it’s eight teams and everyone can win it.
“We will stay with the motto, step by step, and game by game. But of course, matches like this, you can only win them with belief, and it will just fuel our belief.”
The one sour note for England was Henderson injuring himself when he slipped while vaulting an advertising hoarding. The Brentford midfielder stayed in hospital overnight with a member of the team’s medical staff and requires surgery, leaving him unable to play any further part in the World Cup.
