Western Sydney coach Carl Robinson is enjoying his club’s improved form, but is concerned that VAR may be sapping some of the emotion from the game.
Friday’s 3-0 A-League home victory over Perth was the second-placed Wanderers’ third straight win, with Robinson citing increasing self-belief among his players as the reason behind their surge.
While Wanderers ultimately won comfortably, Robinson watched three potential first-half goals for his side rubbed out for offside, two of them after VAR reviews.
“Every time you score a goal, the emotion is there, you want to see them celebrate, you want to see your fans’ happy smiles on faces and people jumping around,” Robinson said.
“But sometimes you can’t because you just worry that it’s going to get called off again.
“That’s my only thing with VAR. Sport is emotion and it’s important you show emotion, good and bad, and I don’t want that to be lost in the VAR calls.”
The Wanderers’ improving form could help the international prospects of players like Friday’s two-goal hero Mitchell Duke and Bernie Ibini.
Robinson, who played over 50 times for Wales, was philosophical about potentially losing players to the Socceroos come finals time.
(Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images)
“I said when I did play for my country that when I become a coach – and I’ve been fortunate enough to follow that dream – that I would never stand in the way of anyone going to follow their dream and playing for their national team,” Robinson said.
Wanderers’ Scottish international midfielder Graham Dorrans collected a seventh yellow card in 11 games, though Robinson insisted four of the bookings were “for nothing”.
“Will I speak to him about picking up more, yes. But it’s part and parcel of a midfield player’s job. You’ve got to win the ball, you’ve got to tackle,” Robinson said.
“Sometimes your tackles are off due to your timing but I don’t want to take that part of the game from any of my players.”
Perth are winless In their last four matches with a draw away to ladder leaders Central Coast providing their only point over that period.
Glory coach Richard Garcia is looking for more consistency from his younger players and fewer defensive errors.
Perth have yet to keep a clean sheet in ten matches and are leaking an average of two goals a game.
Despite his club’s defensive deficiencies, Garcia is adamant Perth are capable of competing with the top teams.
“I still think we’re right in the mix, I don’t feel that we’re far off at all,” Garcia said.
After playing away seven times in ten games, including each of their last three, Perth are looking forward to successive home fixtures.
“You want to get momentum and you normally get that at home, it’s been a tough start to the season with us going away quite a bit,” Garcia said.
© AAP
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