Manchester United defender Chris Smalling will be in trouble when VAR arrives in Premier League, says Tony Cascarino
Smalling is one of the “worst offenders” when it comes to holding players in the box, according to Cascarino
Tony Cascarino believes the Premier League's introduction of video assistant referees (VAR) will land Chris Smalling in trouble next season.
VAR has been used in domestic cup and Champions League games this term and is set to be introduced to the Premier League from the start of the 2019/20 season.
But for Manchester United defender Smalling that could mean bad news, according to Tony Cascarino, who believes he is one of the “worst offenders” when it comes to pulling players’ shirts.
Writing in , former Chelsea striker Cascarino said: “A few defenders will be in trouble when video assistant referees are introduced to the Premier League - and one of them is Manchester United’s Chris Smalling.
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“He is one of the worst offenders when it comes to pulling shirts and holding players in the box. Once referees have the help of a video assistant, he won’t get away with it.
“I’m not picking on him as he’s not the only one - Sokratis (Papastathopoulos) at Arsenal is another defender who is always holding opponents.
“But in the past few games I have been watching Smalling and he is doing it every time he defends a corner or a free-kick.
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“It’s often because he gets caught on the wrong side of the attacker. Smalling has been playing well of late but the United manager next season, whoever it is, will have to work on his marking in the box.”
Smalling has started United’s last four games since recovering from a foot injury.
He is likely to retain his place as United look to overturn a 2-0 deficit in their Champions League last-16 second leg tie against Paris Saint-Germain live on talkSPORT.
However, the club could have to take on Kylian Mbappe and co. without TEN players as injury and suspension has struck at Old Trafford.