Norwich City manager Daniel Farke not convinced by VAR after penalty shootout defeat to Chelsea
Farke reiterated some of his concerns about the system after a spirited performance from his side
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Your support makes all the difference.Norwich City manager Daniel Farke says that VAR is “a good idea” but one that is currently “tricky to handle” and “needs some time”, even though his side got the benefit of the use of the system in their FA Cup third-round replay defeat to Chelsea.
The English champions had got three players booked for diving, with two of them - Alvaro Morata and Pedro - eventually getting sent off for second cautions, amid much controversy over why VAR was not used. That was particularly the case for Willian’s booking at the start of extra-time after a 1-1 draw in normal time, although Chelsea got over that to win 5-3 on penalties.
Farke had reiterated some of his concerns about the system after a spirited performance from his side. The German also pointed out how it was has been controversial in his home country.
“There are some problems in Germany,” Farke said.
“I'm a big old fashioned and not a deep believer in changing the game too much. I like it when it's simple. But we have to be open if technology can improve the quality of decisions. Goal-line technology helps, but you have to solutions in a fluent game like football. It's a good idea, but a bit tricky to handle. It doesn't work from the start, so we need some time. It's up to the referees to find the best way to handle it. I'll let the most important people in football decide."
Farke also admitted that some of his players were crying after a match that saw 19-year-old Jamal Lewis score his first goal for the club, in just his fifth appearance, in the last minute of normal time.
“We are a bit disappointed we didn't win the game. We were so close to creating a really big, big sensation. There were several lads in the dressing-room with tears in their eyes because they played with so much emotion and came so close to winning at Chelsea. I didn't watch the scenes back, and don't want to judge it at all. There were some close decisions in both boxes: Zappacosta's hands on Jamal Lewis would normally have been a penalty, and there were one or two in our box. But there were close situations on both sides. I don't want to judge it.”
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