The great VAR debate: As Liverpool star says it leaves players feeling like ‘prisoners’, MARK CLATTENBURG, CHRIS SUTTON AND IAN LADYMAN have their say on technology after shocking blunder at Tottenham
- Luis Diaz had a goal ruled out but the PGMOL have admitted it should have stood
- PGMOL have now confirmed that two officials have been stood down as a result
- Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here
Saturday’s dramatic clash between Tottenham and Liverpool saw one of the biggest VAR errors since its inception.
Luis Diaz looked to have given his side the lead against Spurs before his goal in the first half was controversially ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
It later emerged that the decision was a result of a miscommunication between the on-field officials and those on VAR.
Technology continues to divide fans. Here, a player, a pundit, a referee and Mail Sport’s Football Editor give their views on the big debate.
PGMOL has acknowledged that Luis Diaz’s goal against Tottenham was incorrectly ruled out
The player
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker
Liverpool No 1 Alisson claimed footballers feel like ‘prisoners’ who are unable to complain about mistakes by referees and their assistants. Alisson called for the Premier League to adopt the semi-automated offside technology used at last year’s World Cup.
‘I’ve always said VAR is good, precisely for these unfair situations,’ he said. ‘Incredibly, these things continue to happen with something so simple, something that is so objective. And the technology is there. Why don’t you use the technology FIFA used in the World Cup?’
With a chip inside the ball paired with 12 dedicated tracking cameras and artificial intelligence software, FIFA reduced the chance of human error interfering with VAR decisions in Qatar. It was considered a success.
On the Luis Diaz ‘offside’ at Spurs, Alisson said: ‘Everyone saw it. I don’t like talking about referees. Sometimes it feels like we are prisoners.’
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was reluctant to criticise referee Simon Hopper or VAR England.
‘When he opens his mouth, he is punished from all sides,’ said Alisson. ‘We are human beings and we have to be outraged by this kind of thing. Yes, it’s the fans’ feeling. Our feeling too.
‘A mistake that cost us the result of the game. It could have been totally different. Now we have to deal with this.’
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker says VAR has left players feeling like prisoners
Football Editor
Ian Ladyman
I never wanted VAR. I said it and wrote it many times.
To me, human weakness was always a fundamental part of sport and as far as I was concerned, it was perfectly OK that it extended to the officials. Perfection in sport is unattainable and, anyway, perfection is boring.
Goal-line technology was something I welcomed because whether a ball has gone into the goal is the very point of our sport and should not be subjective.
That was as far as I ever wanted it to go, but I lost that argument to the pedants and nit-pickers who maybe don’t understand what sport really should be.
But now that argument is lost and VAR is here then football really needs to get itself on fast track and provide us with a system that actually works. And by that I mean semi-automated technology for offside.
The system does the majority of the work for the VAR officials. All they do is validate a decision that is effectively made by the technology. It takes much of the human part out of the offside equation by allowing technology to do the geometry by itself.
It’s available to the Premier League now. UEFA use it in the Champions League. But we don’t use it here because our clubs voted against it last summer as apparently they were not satisfied the technology was foolproof and wanted extra tests.
Nothing wrong with thoroughness. Even so, it’s worth remembering this when managers complain. We could be doing this differently by now and part of the reason we aren’t is down to them and the clubs they work for.
So let’s put our foot to the floor on this right now. Saturday was a low point for technology in football and should be viewed not as an end point but as a new start. Technology that is at risk of being mishandled or misinterpreted by human hands is only being allowed to do half its job.
Handball is a subjective call. So are tackles and incidents of foul play. Replay the action as many times as you wish and we will still not all agree.
But offside is not about that. Offsides — on the whole — are about facts. They are about measurements. They are about geometry. So let the robots do it. Let the algorithms do it. We can’t do it and we have shown that.
Technology is here so let’s use the darned thing properly at least. Don’t just stand the VAR officials down for a couple of games to let the dust settle. As far as offside is concerned, let’s work towards standing them down for good.
The goal was ruled out despite replays clearing showing Diaz was being played onside by Cristian Romero
The pundit
Chris Sutton
The ‘off with his head’ response to refereeing errors makes me uncomfortable.
VAR Darren England and his assistant Dan Cook made an atrocious mistake. But don’t you think they will know that better than anyone? They don’t need fans calling for their heads on a spike to realise how poorly they performed. They’re human beings who will have spent their Sunday thinking about nothing else.
Watching back the Luis Diaz ‘offside’, I’m at a loss as to why England and Cook did not tell the referee Simon Hooper to stop play once they realised Tottenham were taking a free-kick.
Yes, I know the rulebook says you cannot do that once the game has restarted. But the fallout would not have been anywhere near as vociferous as this.
What’s the worst that could have happened if they had told Hooper to pause proceedings because it should be 1-0 to Liverpool? Tottenham would have been upset but, deep down, they would have known it was a legitimate goal being awarded.
England and Cook would have been better off doing that and dealing with the ramifications of breaking a silly little rule.
I don’t think they should lose their jobs because of a bloodthirsty mob. They deserve another chance once they have served their time on the sidelines.
It’s hard to know what impact that trip to the United Arab Emirates had on England and Cook. It certainly wasn’t wise to do that on the eve of such a mammoth match and that is on Howard Webb and the PGMOL as much as the officials involved.
beIN Sports drew their own lines on their broadcast to show how the goal should have stood
The referee
Mark Clattenburg
The PGMOL brought in Phil Bentham last year to improve communications between the match officials because of his background in rugby league.
As a former TMO his every word was broadcast live, and Howard Webb has been striving for his Premier League officials to make their messages clear and concise.
But there was a total breakdown in basic communication at Tottenham on Saturday.
Assistant Adrian Holmes should have been shouting ‘offside, offside’ after raising his flag against Luis Diaz. Referee Simon Hooper should have been relaying that to the players, too. All this should have been picked up by their earpieces and heard by VAR Darren England and his assistant Dan Cook at Stockley Park.
They should have been under no illusions Diaz had been flagged offside. But for whatever reason, England and Cook thought the on-field decision was onside.
When England said ‘check complete’ to Hooper, he was mistakenly confirming not that the Diaz goal was good but that it should be disallowed.
England should have expanded on his decision. Instead of ‘check complete’, he should have said: ‘I’ve checked the potential offside. It’s onside, therefore I’m awarding the goal. Check complete.’
That way, we would not have this controversy. Webb will be furious, naturally, as will Select Group One manager Jon Moss.
The PGMOL have spent significant money to improve how VAR is applied but we are still seeing decisions as poor as these. It is a harsh lesson for England and Cook and they will not make this mistake again.
It has been speculated that England and Cook’s trip to the UAE on Thursday impacted their performance and I can tell you, those long international trips take it out of you.
I remember doing a Europa League game in Krasnodar, Russia, on a Thursday. I returned to referee a Premier League match at the weekend and by full time, I couldn’t remember what had happened over the last 90 minutes, I was that tired.
I know other officials who have felt the same. The PGMOL need to be mindful of that when sanctioning these trips.
STORY OF A SHAMBLES
WHAT HAPPENED?
Luis Diaz scored for Liverpool after 34 minutes but assistant Adrian Holmes raised his flag for offside to cut short the celebrations. It was 0-0 at the time.
BUT WASN’T IT ONSIDE?
Yes, it was. To the naked eye, it looked like Diaz was being played on by Cristian Romero’s outstretched leg. VAR checked and yet the goal remained disallowed.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
VAR Darren England and his assistant Dan Cook checked the goal. They applied the lines as usual and saw that it was onside. Sky Sports viewers were not shown any lines. Match of the Day viewers were shown lines — drawn by the broadcaster, not VAR — and Diaz was clearly onside. England and Cook had thought the on-field decision was ‘goal’ when it was actually offside. So when they told referee Simon Hooper ‘check complete’, they mistakenly confirmed the offside decision should stand, with Tottenham receiving a free-kick. PGMOL insiders have described this as a ‘momentary lapse of concentration’, which Liverpool will say is an understatement given how the game ended.
WHY DIDN’T VAR NTERVENE?
As soon as Tottenham took their free-kick for the phantom offside, the decision could not be rolled back. You can only imagine the panic in the VAR hub, with England and Cook knowing the grave error they had committed as the game continued.
WHAT NEXT?
Don’t expect to see England or Cook back on duty soon given refs chief Howard Webb’s zero-tolerance policy. England was supposed to be fourth official for Nottingham Forest v Brentford yesterday and Cook for Fulham v Chelsea today, but they have been sidelined by the PGMOL. This is as bad an error as the Premier League has known, with Liverpool receiving an apology on Saturday evening.
HOW DO WE FIX THIS?
Errors of this magnitude will only accelerate the push for semi-automated offside technology to be introduced to the Premier League next season. The clubs decided against adding it for this campaign as the tech is still being developed. However, it worked well at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Limb-tracking of all players and automatic ball detection end the need for lines to be drawn by VAR officials.
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