Roberto De Zerbi has revealed what he thought of referee Jarred Gillett’s performance in Tottenham’s 1-1 draw against Leeds.
The game was not short of big decisions, with Leeds being handed a penalty in the second-half after Mathys Tel fouled Ethan Ampadu and Tottenham being denied a late one.
James Maddison went down after being caught by Lukas Nmecha in the box, but the VAR did not even ask Gillett to rewatch the incident on the touchline monitor.
Maddison and his teammates were adamant that it was a foul, and De Zerbi has now opined that the Lilywhites may have been victims of what happened on Sunday.
Roberto De Zerbi suggests VAR controversy in Arsenal clash could have affected Tottenham
The Tottenham boss suggested that the huge debate and controversy surrounding the decision to rule out West Ham’s equaliser against Arsenal could have been playing on Gillett’s mind during Monday’s clash.
De Zerbi suggested that the officials may have been under pressure, claiming that they calmness during his side’s 1-1 draw against Leeds.
The Italian said (via Football.London): “The first minute until the end of the game the referee went to me, ‘if you go out, yellow card,’ and I think they were not calm today. Maybe they suffered the pressure of yesterday, the West Ham-Arsenal game and VAR.
“For sure, we suffer the pressure today for the speed of the ball, for the order of the pitch, and we didn’t play with patience on the ball. Frenetic and we were rushed but also the referee was not calm. I don’t know, I can’t understand the polemic about yesterday’s VAR because it was a foul, 200 per cent, not 100 per cent, if you want to talk about football.”
De Zerbi pleased with Antonin Kinsky’s improvement
Antonin Kinsky’s rise continues, with the Italian once again coming up with a couple of superb saves in crucial moments.
Jamie Carragher has labelled Kinsky’s late stop against Sean Langstaff as one of the saves of the season, and the Tottenham boss is very pleased with the way the 23-year-old is progressing.
When asked about the Czech goalkeeper, De Zerbi said: “He’s improving a lot. He’s a good goalkeeper. I had no doubt in my first days in Tottenham because I knew him before coming here. He played in Madrid, he made that mistake, and it was tough for him. He has great personality, strong character and he deserves to play a game like today.”
- READ MORE: Serie A trio make contact over £21m Radu Dragusin, Tottenham may already have a replacement