Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool’s match against Tottenham Hotspur should be replayed due to the controversial decision to disallow Luis Diaz’s goal for offside.
Diaz saw a goal wrongly ruled out for offside with Darren England and Dan Cook, the VAR and assistant VAR, failing to overrule the on-field decision in what PGMOL would later call a “significant human error”.
England informed referee Simon Hooper that the check was complete, under the impression that he was confirming an onside decision, not an offside call. This led to Diaz’s goal being disallowed.
PGMOL, the body responsible for referees in English football, released the audio of the decision-making on Tuesday. Liverpool had received it before it was accessible to the public.
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Liverpool VAR error audio made public – full transcript
Klopp, however, believes the game should be played again.
He said: “I say this not as manager of Liverpool but as a football person – I think the only outcome should be a replay. It probably won’t happen. I think it is so unprecedented.
“As far as I can remember, something like that never happened, that’s why I think a replay should be played.
“I’m not angry with any of them, not at all. We should not go for them. They made a mistake and I’m sure they felt horrible that night. They didn’t do it on purpose and we shouldn’t forget that.”
Liverpool had previously expressed their intention to “explore the range of options available” following the incidents at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last Saturday.
At this stage, there has been no formal request from Liverpool to the Premier League asking to replay the game.
England and Cook, meanwhile, will not be among the list of officials appointed for matchweek eight of the Premier League, scheduled for this coming Saturday and Sunday. Adrian Holmes, the assistant referee who raised the offside flag during Diaz’s goal incident, has been assigned to the Championship for this weekend’s fixtures.
Additionally, England was removed from officiating for the English Football League’s midweek fixtures. He was originally assigned to oversee Leicester City’s match against Preston North End this evening, but Tom Bramall will now take his place.
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Klopp also maintained that Curtis Jones did not deserved to be sent off against Spurs.
The England Under-21 midfielder was shown a red card midway through the first half following a challenge on Yves Bissouma.
Liverpool lodged an appeal challenging the decision, but this failed, meaning Jones will now serve a three-game ban. He will miss Premier League matches against Brighton, Everton and Nottingham Forest.
“What made this day really difficult for us is all the other decisions. We talk about the process now of VAR and how they talk to each other, but there was another situation in this game where Curtis Jones got a red card. I stick to the opinion it’s not a red card,” Klopp added. “The ref got called to the screen and saw for the first three seconds a frozen picture. I would have given an immediate red card for that picture.
“Then he sees the replay in slow motion and I would have given a red card for that. But it’s not a red card. You appeal it and then the FA panel tell us it’s not a clear and obvious mistake. I think it is. The ref’s first decision is yellow. The clear and obvious mistake is showing him a frozen picture and the slow motion.”
Alexander-Arnold wants Liverpool to ‘move forward’
Trent Alexander-Arnold, speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa League game against Union Saint-Gilloise, said he thought Liverpool had to “put it behind us”.
He said: “There’s nothing we can do as players about what has gone on. I wouldn’t say there are trust issues (with VAR), but what happened at the weekend was very disappointing and frustrating for us as a team.
“We have to move forward and put it behind us. We have to put our trust in the officials who use the VAR system and hope that they get the decisions right as much as possible. Our focus is now on winning the two games we’ve got before the international break.”
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(Photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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