Chelsea defender Marcos Alonso insisted that he “does not understand” how VAR works after Tottenham’s controversial winning goal in Tuesday’s EFL Cup semi-final.
Chelsea defenders were incensed as they felt that they stopped for an offside signal, carried on, and gave away the foul that eventually became Harry Kane’s penalty.
Speaking after the game, Alonso said that it was “very disappointing” for Chelsea to concede that way, given that the players did not think play would legitimately continue after they saw the initial offside flag.
“You come here, you play a good game and you go back home with a 1-0 defeat, it’s very disappointing,” said Alonso, who admitted to being “angry” afterwards.
“Maybe [we were] unlucky because they only had one chance, and it was thanks to the linesman, the VAR. I think when watching it on video it looks like it’s offside, and the linesman has stopped and put the flag up so we all stopped.”
But Kane continued, drew the foul from Kepa, which he converted from the spot.
Alonso blames the linesman for ‘stopping’, making the Chelsea players think the ball was dead.
“The referee told me they have explained it to us already,” he said. “But I think maybe they haven’t explained it to this linesman, because he stopped. I think if there is any doubt that it is not offside, he has to continue running.”
Because of the dispute over whether Kane was played onside by Cesar Azpilicueta or not, Alonso believes that play should have continued. And that in that crucial split second, Kepa was delayed, leading him to eventually give the penalty away.
“The guy stopped, I think if we have to wait for VAR, I think he has to continue,” he said. “It is a bit confusing. When he stopped to put the flag, and then we have to keep running, I think it changes [things]. Because maybe Kepa gets out to the ball quicker, or maybe as a defender you have to run back, but we stopped because the linesman stopped.”
This is why Alonso thinks that VAR is doing more harm than good. “Even when you look at it on computer it looks offside, so I don’t understand how it works,” he said. “It created a lot of confusion. They have to explain it properly to the linesmen, the referees, and to us.”
