Graeme Souness shares brutal assessment after what he saw in Everton v Brighton
Graeme Souness has brutally slammed Premier League referees after an incident in the clash between Everton and Brighton.
The Toffees got their league season off to a disappointing start with a 3-0 defeat to the Seagulls on Saturday (17 August), but the Blues were denied a chance to draw level early in the second half.
Sean Dyche’s side were awarded a penalty when Dominic Calvert-Lewin appeared to be brought down in the box, but the call was overturned after a VAR review to the frustration of talkSPORT pundit Souness.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday (19 August, 11:41) he said: “I’ll be honest with you when you start talking about VAR, I just give up on it.
“This might sound really harsh, but I just don’t think referees are any good, even with the addition of VAR.”
Should Everton have had a penalty against Brighton?
While fans will be divided over whether or not Calvert-Lewin was actually fouled, it seems bizarre that the penalty decision was overturned when no clear or obvious error was made on the field of the play.
The England international did go down slightly easily, but Lewis Dunk did make contact with his foot. While it would have been a soft spot-kick, there wasn’t anything to suggest it was a simulation or not worthy of a foul.
As Souness suggests, the issue the Premier League has isn’t VAR itself, but the fact that the officials that are operating it make far too many errors and show a lack of consistency in their decision-making each and every week.
Had the penalty been awarded and had Everton gone on to convert it, the game could well have been completely different as the Blues would have been level early in the second half with the game in the balance.
Hopefully, those sorts of contentious decisions will even themselves out over the course of the season, otherwise, it could be another long and miserable campaign for those on the blue half of Merseyside.
In other Everton news, Dyche has made a new contract admission amid takeover uncertainty at Goodison Park this summer
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