Former referee Keith Hackett believes officials should stop delaying raising their flag for offsides before someone gets injured.
Four goals were ruled out for offside in Chelsea's Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool on Sunday and at least half of them were instances where the assistant referee could have flagged for offside but waited for play to continue.
One of the goals that saw the assistant referee keep his flag down until the ball was in the back of the net was when Romelu Lukaku looked to have beat the offside trip and finished past Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher.
However, after consulting with VAR, referee Stuart Atwell disallowed the goal.
Assistant referees have been told to keep their flag down, even if they think there is an offside, until the passage of play is complete.
Only once a goal is scored or the chance has gone will the assistant raise their flag. That is so if a goal is scored, VAR can review the offside call.
Speaking after the final whistle, Virgil van Dijk said that he wanted the practice to be scrapped next season and ex-referee Hacket agreed.
“The delayed flag makes Van Dijk’s job more difficult, it is as simple as that,” Hackett told Football Insider.
“I know why they delay the flag, they do that in case it is the wrong call. I understand why they do it in principle.
“There is always that element of risk between forward and goalkeeper with the forward taking advantage and crashing into the goalkeeper. It’s not really happened yet, in fairness.
“The one thing we’ve got in England is some outstanding referees judging offsides. I feel for them because they’ve got a difficult remit.
“They judge something as offside but have to hold their flag, hold their concentration. Then the pressure comes when a goal is scored or the game continues. It’s a big pressure on the assistant referee.
“This is nothing to do with the laws of the game, this is operational practice.
“In England, where we’ve got a quicker game where the offsides are a big call, we’ve got some outstanding assistant referees. Bin it.”
