Mourinho said he wants Premier League referees to use pitchside monitors to make more key decisions but conceded on Tuesday that watching the same replays himself can push him over the edge.

"I think the fact that now it is allowed to have the screen in front of us is not good for our emotions," Mourinho told a news conference ahead of Wednesday's FA Cup fourth-round replay against Southampton.

"We watch exactly the same (thing) as the VAR and... the referees don't see it as well as we can.

"My reaction was just based on being able to watch everything on the screen... but OK, I went viral for the wrong reasons."

Mourinho was unhappy when Raheem Sterling was shown a yellow card instead of red for a foul on Dele Alli and was further frustrated when the City forward escaped a second booking for simulation after City had missed a VAR-awarded penalty.

"I was immediately very upset that Sterling didn't get the red card and then that situation happened again and in one minute I was laughing and the next minute fuming," he said.

Mourinho said referee Mike Dean should have taken the call on the penalty himself and that Sterling escaping the second booking after going down under slight contact from goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was another unacceptable VAR 'mistake'.

"In this moment, the referees that are in the pitch are not making the most important decisions of the game," he said.

"I don't accept the mistakes by the video referee.

"When I play PlayStation I don't make mistakes, I only make mistakes when I'm on the touchline.

"The referee... can make mistakes and I have full respect for them because it is very, very difficult.

"When they have time on the VAR it is more difficult to accept and we are being punished, very punished by decisions of the VAR."

Australian Associated Press