Ange Postecoglou insisted his controversial cupped ear celebration to Tottenham fans in a 1-0 loss at Chelsea had been misinterpreted on another bad night for the Australian.
Spurs slipped to a 16th defeat in the Premier League this season thanks to a 50th-minute header by Enzo Fernandez, but it only told half the story of a typically frenzied London derby.
VAR was required to rule out a fine strike by Moises Caicedo five minutes after Fernandez broke the deadlock at Stamford Bridge before Postecoglou’s gesture to his own supporters after Pape Sarr had rifled in what appeared an equaliser after 69 minutes made headlines.
Postecoglou’s decision to bring off Lucas Bergvall for Sarr prompted a small section of away fans to boo and subsequently chant ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ towards the 59-year-old, who has faced mounting scrutiny following a poor winter period amid a hefty list of injuries.
When Sarr marked his 64th-minute arrival with a long-range strike, it sparked a subdued reaction from Postecoglou, who appeared to cup his ear to the celebrating Tottenham fans before his mood turned sour when referee Craig Pawson ruled out the goal for a foul on Caicedo.
“Jesus mate, it’s incredible how things get interpreted,” Postecoglou explained.
“We’d just scored, I just wanted to hear them cheer because we’d been through a tough time and I thought it was a cracking goal. I wanted them to get really excited.
“I felt at that point we could potentially go on and win the game. I just felt momentum was on our [side].
“It doesn’t bother me, it’s not the first time they’ve booed my substitutions or my decisions, that’s fine. They’re allowed to do that, but we’d just scored a goal, just scored an equaliser, I was just hoping we could get some excitement.
“If people want to read into that that somehow I’m trying to make a point about something, like I said, we’d been through a tough time, but I just felt there was a bit of a momentum shift there. If they get really behind the lads, I thought we had the momentum to finish on top of them.”
Asked if he was in danger of alienating the fanbase with a celebration like that, Postecoglou reflected: “You know what, I am at such a disconnect with the world these days, that who knows. Maybe you’re right.
“I don’t know, but that’s not what my intention was.”
Postecoglou went on to express his bemusement with VAR in a string of interviews, telling Sky Sports “it’s killing the game” before he continued his grievances with technology in his press conference.
“It’s killing the game, it’s not the same game it used to be,” Postecoglou started.
“How long did it take tonight? Six minutes. For a clear and obvious error. Like whether it is a foul or not, who cares if it is a foul or not. There are so many incidents that are very similar out there, but now they are saying, ‘this one is a goal’.
“What is the point of having a referee then? Like clear and obvious to me is you go to the screen and say, ‘oh my God I’ve missed that’ but standing around for so long?
“It will be refereed by AI (Artificial Intelligence) pretty soon and we may as well dispense of the players at some point. Someone will come up with a genius way of having a game of football with no participants because referees aren’t refereeing.”
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was able to toast a well-earned three points, which moved them back up to fourth in the table.
Maresca said: “Very important first of all because of the performance.
“We know how important it is in this moment to win games, but since we start we try to win games in the way we want.
“I think tonight the performance was very good and we are happy.”
Source: independent.co.uk
