Antonio Conte’s side suffered a 2-1 defeat against Newcastle on Sunday, due to two first-half goals, from Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron.
Harry Kane found the back of the net at the beginning of the second half but VAR took a significant amount of time to confirm the goal, and in the 84th minute, Nick Pope was booked for time wasting during goal kicks.
Roberts admitted that Newcastle deserved to win after the way they played, but was not pleased with the time-wasting tactics Eddie Howe’s men used.
The former Tottenham star stressed the need to improve the quality of refereeing in the Premier League and pointed out that a total of 15 minutes had been wasted during Sunday’s game.
Roberts emphasised the necessity for action to be taken against the practise of time-wasting and thinks that officials should deal with it more strongly.
“Yesterday’s was a bad result”, Roberts wrote on Twitter.
“Newcastle deserved to win, but I have to say that the time-wasting was a joke.
“Our referees are the worst in Europe. Yesterday’s ref was a joke.
“He added 5 mins on at the end, and when Newcastle scored, it took nearly 4 mins to walk back to half way.
“Then the VAR that took nearly 4 mins when we scored, then the goalie wasting time on every goal kick, if you book them early on they won’t do it again, and finally the subs.
“8 subs at 30 seconds per sub, 4 mins.
“It adds up to over 15 mins.
“This is becoming a joke. Something needs to be done.”
Tottenham have lost back-to-back games in the Premier League after Sunday’s defeat and sit in third place with 23 points from 12 matches.
