Anthony Gordon sends VAR ultimatum as Newcastle winger is denied penalty in defeat to Manchester United
Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon has weighed in on the VAR debate by issuing an ultimatum to the Premier League.
After being denied a penalty in the Magpies' 3-2 defeat in manchester united On Wednesday night, Gordon believes VAR should be scrapped if it is not to be improved.
Top-class clubs vote to get rid of the VAR system for the 2024/25 season at a meeting next month in which 14 teams will have to vote in favor for the motion to be approved.
And England international Gordon has doubts about whether he should stay after Newcastle They had a penalty in the first half against them when they were losing 1-0.
The 23-year-old lunged towards the box, where he was caught in the Achilles tendon by Sofyan Amrabat, who then pushed the ex-Everton player to the ground.
Gordon He was left with a gaping hole in the back of his sock, but to his surprise, VAR did not send referee Rob Jones to the pitchside monitor.
And Gordon was quick to vent his anger at sky sports following the five-goal thriller that has seen Newcastle drop to seventh place, level on points with eighth-placed United heading into the final weekend of the campaign.
He said: “(My ankle hurts a lot.) I'm not really sure how well my ankle will be.
“But I have seen the incident, it is a clear penalty. I don't care if the referee makes a mistake on the field because it is a difficult decision, things happen very quickly.
“But I don't understand what the objective of VAR is, because it is there to correct errors.
“He (Amrabat) goes down my Achilles tendon and pushes me from behind, and then Casemiro comes and recovers the ball.
“But there are two fouls before that, honestly, I don't see the point.
“I knew right away (they missed me), that's why I didn't appeal, because I thought: 'I don't care if the referee doesn't give it, it's quick, but I'll wait for the VAR to review it.'
“You can see me telling my teammates, 'Don't worry, it's a penalty,' and then we go on and I'm like, 'I don't have any socks left, so how is that possible?'
“I don't understand the point of this, I really don't.”
Commenting on whether VAR should be scrapped or not, Gordon commented: “It's an important decision, I actually like it a lot.
“I like the idea, it should be something that works in the league, but it isn't, too many mistakes are constantly being made.
“We've missed too many opportunities to blame anyone else, but we could go 1-0 up (1-1 level) and then the game changes.
“It's a clear and obvious mistake, I don't know how you can go wrong, so you either get rid of it or improve. It's very simple.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe was equally stunned that his team were not awarded a penalty, as he said in his post-match press conference: “Stonewall penalty.
“I don't know why the VAR didn't intervene.”
The result means Newcastle have to pick up three points at Brentford on Sunday to guarantee a top-seven finish and secure at least the Europa Conference League.
And if Chelsea were to lose at home to Bournemouth, they would qualify for the Europa League at their expense.