Paul Merson And Mike Dean Clash Live On Air Over VAR Controversy

Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson and Mike Dean clashed live on air over the recent VAR controversy in the Premier League. The debate got heated as Merson appeared to be unhappy with Dean’s comments and it got feisty. 

Paul Merson And Mike Dean Clash Live On TV

Talk over last weekend’s VAR controversy has dominated news over the past few days after Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out for offside during Liverpool’s game against Tottenham. The Colombian was actually onside and the PGMOL later came out and apologised as well as releasing the audio from the game.

🚨 @PremierLeague release official VAR audio from Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal vs Tottenham.

Full statement: https://t.co/buvq5mG2q3 pic.twitter.com/a8zjGgcOCO

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 3, 2023

The fallout from the game has led to Jurgen Klopp calling for the match to be replayed, whilst others including Ange Postecoglou have called for VAR to be scrapped completely.

One pundit on Sky Sports made the suggestion that ex-players could be involved in the decision-making process. However, former Premier League referee Mike Dean had his say on the matter, leading to a heated exchange between himself and Merson.

Paul Merson and Mike Dean Debate

Dean said: If you let players in, half of them don’t even know the rules of the game.

“As you can tell by what you’ve just said about restarting games for the sake of it…”

Merson was unimpressed by that comment, and said “For the sake of it! For the sake of it!

“What do you mean for the sake of it! You’ve got Liverpool against Tottenham, one of the biggest games and you are saying for the sake of it!

“Come on, there is no law. No one is going to die. So stop the game! You’re all scared!”

You can see the full Paul Merson and Mike Dean exchange below.

Paul Merson and Mike Dean clash over ‘the laws of the game’ 😬 pic.twitter.com/lil10ERvne

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 7, 2023

This led to Sky Sports presenter Simon Thomas tell Merson to calm down with the rest of the panel watching on in silence.