Albion’s head coach has again declined to criticise the VAR error which cost his side a goal at Crystal Palace. He said he appreciated Webb fronting up after the mistake by John Brooks which saw Pervis Estupinan’s strike incorrectly ruled out. De Zerbi’s approach when asked about the VAR fall-out at his press conference today was in contrast to that taken by his Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta, whose side fell foul of a poor decision in their 1-1 draw with Brentford.
Roberto De Zerbi said: “For me, sincerely it is not a problem. Referees are human like other people and can make mistakes. I don’t like if I have to criticise them because it is not my job. I’m sorry for the mistakes, for sure. I think we lost four or five points, not only Palace but with Aston Villa at home there was a clear, clear, clear penalty. And the same at Leicester. But it can happen, some mistakes. At the end of the season, I think the mistakes are not so important in terms of the table because there is a balance of mistakes. MY problem is my team to play with a quality, a style and to try to win the game, only this. Referees are humans, VAR is technology, it is different. We hope football can improve through this technology. But I don’t want to speak too much about referees. There are other people who want to take advantage about this. I don’t like this in Italy, I don’t like this in Ukraine, in the UK the same.”
Webb was pro-active after a bad day for match officials in the Prem.
Roberto De Zerbi said: “He is a good guy, he’s an honest person and I appreciate that he showed his face. When there is a mistake, it’s not easy to show your face. I told him there is no problem for me, my players, or my club. We don’t want to put any pressure on referees.”
De Zerbi believes VAR should be a tool which improves the game.
Roberto De Zerbi said: “It should be better, no? The technology can and has to help the referee. At Palace it was like this and we can’t change the result. Maybe if Pervis’s goal had been allowed, we could still have lost the game. We don’t know the other possibilities during the game.”
