The Spurs left-back reveals his disappointment for the Dale players and looks ahead to an exciting period for Mauricio Pochettino’s side

Danny Rose has slammed the use of VAR in last night’s FA Cup tie, bemoaning the fact that confusing decisions overshadowed Tottenham Hotspur’s high-scoring victory and Rochdale’s hard-earned night out at Wembley.

Spurs eventually triumphed 6-1 against their League One visitors, but much of the talk surrounded the involvement of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and a series of controversial calls.

The Lilywhites had an early goal disallowed because the VAR decided Fernando Llorente had committed a foul in the goalmouth – the ruling being made after Spurs’ players had celebrated and returned to their own half.

The same system then benefited the hosts as a free kick was upgraded to a penalty, but referee Paul Tierney promptly chalked off Heung-min Son’s successful spot-kick and booked the South Korean for stopping during his run-up.

Lucas Moura had a penalty appeal turned down while a series of other decisions were reviewed by the VAR, resulting in jeers from the baffled spectators in the stand – who were unable to see replays - and five minutes were added to the first half to account for all the stoppages.

“It was interesting - very frustrating and just confusing, more than anything,” said Rose. “That’s just overshadowed a good performance by us and a good performance by Rochdale. There’s no word to describe it except frustrating, even though we won 6-1.

“It’s just complete nonsense if you ask me, waiting around not knowing what’s going on. It’s ridiculous. Ridiculous.

“I’ve had a few messages [from friends] saying it’s a shambles, the VAR. It’s been the same in every round it’s been used. How can you go from a free-flowing football game for 90 minutes to stopping for one or two minutes for a decision?

“It is what it is and we just have to get on with it. I honestly have no idea [how it could be improved] but what I experienced last night was not good at all.”

Rose says there was communication from referee Tierney, but the left-back still has issues with some of the calls that were made.

He continued: “After an incident had happened, the referee was fully open to us asking why he had stopped the game, and he explained his decisions. Some we don’t agree with.

“For instance, with the penalty, he said Sonny had stopped just before he kicked the ball, but to me it didn’t look like it. He stopped a few yards before. It didn’t make sense.

“But we managed to score six goals and luckily we’re not on the losing side complaining about VAR.

“I feel for Rochdale. Some of their players said it was their first time at Wembley and it’s completely overshadowed. It could have been a nice occasion for them.”

Rose was not particularly pleased with his own performance either.

The 27-year-old was making his third appearance since returning from his latest knee problem – all of those outings coming in the FA Cup – and he reflected: “It was a strange game for me. I couldn’t really get into the game. It was frustrating and the conditions didn’t help.

“I feel ok. It’s been a nice test for me up against Rochdale in these last two games because they’re a good footballing team.

“I hope I can be part of an exciting cup run for Tottenham, and the more wins I get the happier I’ll be. We’re on a good run now and as long as we keep winning I’ll be happy and everyone else will be happy.

“We’re excited for what lies ahead. We’re obviously not going to disregard Swansea [in the FA Cup quarter-final] and after that, if we do get through that, we don’t fear Chelsea or Man United.

“It’s very exciting times for us now, with the Champions League coming up too. I’d like to think we’re favourites in that game as well [against Juventus next week]. It could be a very exciting end to a very hard season.”

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