Former Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman has suggested that Harry Kane was offside in the incident that led to Tottenham’s penalty against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final, calling the incident a ‘weird one’.
The England captain was deemed to be onside by referee Michael Oliver as he ran through and was brought down by Kepa Arrizabalaga, but subsequent replays have caused debate over the decision.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the ex-England number one said: “When you look at it, and when you saw the replays, he did look offside.
“A couple of the defenders stop. I think it’s [Andreas] Christensen, he puts his hand up and then points over to the linesman whose flag is up, so players naturally just stop.
“The linesman has stopped on the line there; he hasn’t carried on with the play.
“It’s just a weird one. Are the players told to play to the whistle now? I don’t know. It’s just a really grey area.”
OPINION
It’s a strange state of affairs when even with a multitude of cameras pointed at an incident it’s hard to decide which way to call it. From certain angles Kane appears to be offside, from others he looks to be perfectly in line. Seaman is right to suggest that it does highlight a grey area in the technology, but that should not stop it from being implemented. The former England keeper asks what would have happened if Kepa had stopped and Kane had rounded him for a tap in. In that situation, the Spurs captain would never have been fouled, and the emphasis would surely have been on the young Spaniard for not playing until the whistle. Admittedly the flag did go up, albeit very late, but what it might take is a change in mindset from players, who will have to keep playing as if nothing is wrong until they are certain that a decision has been given one way or the other. It’s not ideal, but it’s important to remember that VAR has to be upheld by them as well as the referees.