Andre Marriner took control of Tottenham’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Chelsea and was bailed out by VAR on three occasions after a series of wrong decisions. Keith Hackett believes Andre Marriner is not fit to referee and made it clear to him.
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Previous top referee Keith Hackett claims Marriner is not too fast to keep up with the pace of Premier League stars. Marriner was bailed out by VAR for three big calls during Chelsea’s win at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup, including two penalty decisions which he gave in error before they were overturned.
Antonio Rudiger’s challenge on Pierre-Emile Højbjerg was outside of the box while replays showed Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga got the ball in a challenge on Lucas Moura. Hackett says Marriner got them wrong because the 51-year-old cannot keep up with play and is not close enough to make decisions and was left “guessing.”
Hackett said:
“The sad truth is that age has caught up with a number of Premier League refs. Marriner does not have an explosive sprint. Hackett says veteran refs Martin Atkinson, Marriner and Mike Dean should be put on VAR duty – but still need to prove themselves to even get that role”.
He wrote on Twitter:
“The time is right to put Atkinson, Marriner and Dean on permanent VAR duty. However, I want to see a measurement of VAR performances. If the remaining referees fail to meet the elite level requirements then bin them.”
