Gary Neville didn’t take well to Jurgen Klopp’s suggestion that a potential solution to VAR’s mismanagement of Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Tottenham could be replaying the game in question.
The Sky Sports pundit mocked the opinion on Twitter, claiming that the Merseysiders should merely move on after a ‘shocking mistake’.
😂😂😂!! Can’t believe how Liverpool have grabbed defeat from victory in their handling of this ! They were wronged by a shocking mistake.End of! https://t.co/O47oT7gvlw
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) October 4, 2023
The German tactician had been previewing the Reds’ upcoming meeting with Belgian Pro League outfit Union St. Gilloise in the Europa League.
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Yet again we at Empire of the Kop find ourselves utterly stunned by the narrow-minded response to the officiating cock-up experienced at the weekend.
Whilst we’re of the opinion that questioning the appalling standards of officiating in the English top-flight and pushing for change is of greater importance than seeking a replay, Klopp is entitled to raise the point given the potentially devastating consequences such a result could have on our season.
Given we’ve seen Liverpool lose titles by a point – not to mention how commonplace such appalling decisions from officials have become in the most entertaining league in world football – it’s in the best interests not only of the club, but others, to see to it that pressure is put on the PGMOL to change their processes.
It’s a huge shame that pundits with significant followings and influence in the game, like Gary Neville, are blind to the bigger picture.
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Klopp is correct, the game should be replayed. All the tribal shouting seems to suggest that every side would then want to get games replayed for contentious decisions. But that is not the issue here. We are not talking about the subjective decisions made by VAR. we are talking about the objective decisions that are not correctly delivered. To my mind, I can only recall 4 incidents, all of which IMHO should have resulted in replayed games.
1. Crystal Palace 1-1 Brighton. Estupinan goal disallowed when VAR drew lines incorrectly.
2. Arsenal 1-1 Brentford. Pinnock goal allowed to stand when VAR failed to check it for offside
3. Aston Villa 0-0 Sheffield United. Hawkeye failed to see the ball had crossed the Aston Villa goalline.
4. Last Saturday at Spurs.
These four games should all have either been replayed or been corrected by the officials at the time. Because they weren’t the result/outcome of each of these games are invalid.
Klopp is not correct. In fact he’s a fool for suggesting the game be replayed. You’re opening a can of worms that if you’re not satisfied with the officials performance and a mistake is made, then you can request the game to be replayed and all chaos will break loose.
Human error is part and parcel of the game and has been since the game began. You will never eradicate human error as long as there are humans making the decisions under pressure.
And Liverpool fans screaming that the game should be replayed to benefit all teams in the future, weren’t screaming after the Arsenal v Brentford game for example. But now suddenly, because it happened to them, things have to change. Bet they wouldn’t be making the same noise and wouldn’t have the same concerns if the tables were turned and they were the ones who benefited from that decision and Spurs lost.
Sorry guys, it was just another terrible decision so get over it. All clubs have had to endure bad decisions.