Referees have had 'shocker' start to season – Maddison

Jarred Gillett was the on-field referee for Tottenham's win over West Ham while John Brooks was the VAR

Tottenham's James Maddison has said referees and video assistant referees have had an "absolute shocker of a start" to the Premier League season.

Maddison, who is out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, posted his criticism on X after Cristian Romero's goal in Spurs' 3-0 win against West Ham was ruled out.

The Tottenham captain thought he had opened the scoring at London Stadium on Saturday before referee Jarred Gillett blew his whistle for an apparent foul on Kyle Walker-Peters by Micky van de Ven just beforehand.

VAR John Brooks briefly checked the incident before upholding Gillett's decision.

"The referee's call of no goal was checked and confirmed by VAR – with it deemed that Van de Ven pushed Walker-Peters in the back and impacted his ability to play the ball," the Premier League Match Centre posted on X moments later.

Replays appeared to show that West Ham's goalkeeper Mads Hermansen had pushed Mateus Fernandes into the back of Van de Ven, who was then forced into Walker-Peters.