Thomas Tuchel called the \u00adstandard of refereeing at the World Cup unreliable and erratic as he insisted \u00adEngland are capable of going all the way following their dramatic 3-2 victory against Mexico.<\/p>\n
Tuchel fumed after his side held on with 10 men<\/a> at the Azteca stadium on Sunday night, saying that officials across the board have not been up to scratch at the finals tournament. The German, who was unhappy with Jarell Quansah being sent off for a bad tackle after a review following a \u00adrecommendation by the video assistant referee, claimed that players do not know what to expect during games and he warned that teams are at risk of being knocked out because of poor refereeing decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not good enough,\u201d Tuchel said. \u201cHe [the referee] can send any team out in any moment. It\u2019s just not good enough. It\u2019s just erratic, it\u2019s just unreliable in matches. Now\u00a0we have two fourth officials who just\u00a0scream at you if you put one foot\u00a0out of a \u00adcoaching zone. It\u2019s just not good\u00a0enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Tuchel was clearly unhappy with the on-pitch officials from the start against Mexico<\/a>. He raged when Declan Rice was booked by the referee, Alireza Faghani, for a foul in the first minute.<\/p>\n Quansah will be suspended for the quarter-final against Norway in Miami on Saturday after he was dismissed following a review for his tackle on Jes\u00fas Gallardo. Meanwhile Mexico\u2019s second goal came after another check led to a penalty being awarded for a foul by Harry Kane.<\/p>\n Tuchel, who has lost Jordan \u00adHenderson for the rest of the tournament after the midfielder sustained a broken wrist during the celebrations at full\u00a0time, was asked if he will speak to his players about the impact of VAR. \u201cWhat can they do?\u201d he said. \u201cWe give everything and then decisions are overturned in a very questionable way.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s not only about the big decisions, the little decisions, the consistency in the decisions. You\u2019re just out there, it\u2019s like almost on the open sea, in front of the court, you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen. They\u2019re just not on the level.<\/p>\n \u201cYou play high level now. The so\u2011called underdogs, the so\u2011called little nations, like we played [DR]\u00a0Congo, they play on the highest level. Cape\u00a0Verde plays on the highest level. You need highest\u2011level refereeing. There are only athletes out there. The game has changed massively and it\u2019s just not good enough. It\u2019s just not good enough for the players, for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you really think that Harry in this moment thinks \u2018Oh, VAR!\u2019? He just goes to the ball and there\u2019s a contact, it\u2019s contact sport. We cannot look at stills and think: \u2018Oh, contact, penalty.\u2019<\/p>\n Jarell Quansah\u2019s foul on Jes\u00fas Gallardo led to his red card after a recommendation from the video assistant referee. Photograph: Michael Steele\/Getty Images<\/p>\n \u201cIn real life there is a way of how the game flows and how you referee and some referees are like: \u2018No, I don\u2019t allow too much contact.\u2019 Some say: \u2018No, now it\u2019s an emotional game, I let the contacts go.\u2019 There are contacts. You cannot look at the still and go: \u2018There was a leg in between.\u2019 Come on. You don\u2019t even give a foul and then you go to a red card. You don\u2019t give a foul and then you go to penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n Tuchel is optimistic that England<\/a> will push on after defying Mexico\u2019s formidable record at the Azteca. \u201cIt fuels our belief that we are here to stay,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are in a part of a\u00a0tournament, round of 32, round of 16, where you just need to find a way\u00a0to stay in the tournament, you need to find a way to win. Then, from the quarter-final, it\u2019s eight teams and everyone can win it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will stay with the motto, step by step, and game by game. But of course, matches like this, you can only win them with belief, and it will just fuel our belief.\u201d<\/p>\n