Gary Neville makes huge VAR demand after X-rated response to Tottenham and Liverpool offside
Gary Neville has called for the automated system used in the UEFA Champions League to be brought to the Premier League following VAR’s incompetence in Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp’s side were the target of a series of questionable decisions from referee Simon Cooper and his video assistant in north London on Saturday. Midfielder Curtis Jones received a direct red card because referee Simon Hooper considered the foul on Yves Bissouma to be a dangerous play after reviewing the situation.
Spurs were then grateful to VAR moments later when Luis Diaz headed in from a tight angle, but the striker’s goal was disallowed for offside. The first images looked extremely close but the goal was quickly denied.
When speaking at half-time, Neville admitted that Liverpool would feel hard done by. “Well that offside, I’m still quite surprised by it,” he said. “It didn’t look offside at the time and I’ve always trusted the accuracy of the technology, but with that one, I’m mystified to be honest with you.
That time, we were watching the VAR screen, we didn’t see the lines moving forward like we usually do and it was just the speed at which they made the decisions. As quickly as it was made, they didn’t feel like they had enough time to watch it. I guess we’ll get an explanation later. »
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was more specific in his complaint, saying that PGMOL made a huge mistake. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), he said:
“When it takes this long to hear back from PGMOL about a controversial decision, you know something has gone wrong!”
PGMOL later released a statement after the match – which Spurs eventually won thanks to Joel Matip’s own goal – which read:
“PGMOL admits that a serious human error occurred in the first half of the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool.
“Luis Diaz’s goal was ruled offside by the on-field referee team. This was a clear factual error and should have resulted in the goal being recognized through VAR intervention, but VAR did not intervention.
