Fair play Liverpool Football Club. Words, as a Manchester United fan, I very rarely use in that order. But, they have done the English game a huge service this week in calling out the PGMOL and turning up the heat on the most exclusive ‘boys club’ outside of Cambridge and Oxford.
In case you somehow missed it, Liverpool winger Luis Diaz scored a very legal crossbody strike against Spurs at the weekend, but it was immediately flagged, wrongly, for offside. A very speedy VAR ‘check’ was conducted and the game continued with a Spurs freekick in their own half. What wasn’t clear, to punters in the ground or those watching the Sky coverage from home, was that this check wasn’t done properly. VAR Darren England was under the impression the on-pitch decision was onside, not off, and thus completed the check and allowed the referee to go on. I’d love to know what distractions they have in that VAR box.
The PGMOL almost immediately sprung into action amidst the post-match uproar, citing ‘significant human error’ as the reason for the mishap alongside an apology to Liverpool, that doesn’t come attached with league points. This is the 14th apology issued since the start of last season.
Everyone makes mistakes, in any field of work and in any walk of life. Postmen sometimes deliver parcels to the wrong house. But if Royal Mail had a force of staff that consistently delivered parcels to the wrong houses and it was affecting everyone in the village, there would rightfully be questions asked about what on earth is going on and something would need to be done. Not simply, ‘sorry Janine, you’re not getting your hair straighteners you ordered back, we’re sorry Pat just made an error.’ (Jurgen Klopp is Janine and his hair straighteners are valuable points in a big six clash)
The truth is, something seriously needs to change. Football fans all over the country claim that referees are against them, that’s not the case. They’re just really, really bad at their job. That could be down to a number of things, for me, one of them isn’t VAR.
VAR worked an absolute treat in the 2018 World Cup, which for many of us would’ve been our first demonstration of how the technology can work within the game. For the most part, it works well in European fixtures. The technology is no different in these instances than it is in England. It is a number of cameras that replay incidents on the pitch to officials who then communicate whether a decision is right or wrong to the on-pitch referee. It is all very, very simple. It is not the technology’s fault Darren England can’t pay attention to the screen, or communicate with his colleague effectively. It’s understood that England realised the error almost instantly, however it’s not clear whether this was communicated to Simon Hooper straight away. If it was, why didn’t Hooper use his common sense to stop the match and have a word with the managers and captains to explain the situation and come to a quick resolution. If it wasn’t, why wasn’t it? Ok, maybe it doesn’t fit the confusing and ever-changing muddied rule book, but as we’re constantly reminded, these people ‘are just human’. If they are, why can’t they apply basic logic and problem-solving skills to resolve an error? As Jamie Carragher said on Monday Night Football, we’d all be praising them for dealing with a situation in such a way.
Perhaps the issue is the ever-strained relationship between match officials and literally every other stakeholder in the game. They have built up a wall between themselves and players, fans and managers. An exclusive club, who keep adding rules that stop anyone from questioning their continuous errors and mishaps. Referees used to give a bit back to players and there was a mutual respect between all parties, even if they were still scrutinised and criticised. What sort of public body makes themselves completely immune to any criticism by punishing anyone who dares question their practices? Players are booked and managers are given touchline bans for giving a bit back to the establishment.
Serious reform is required. What that solution is, I don’t think anyone is quite sure. Perhaps shipping in referees from around the world is an option, as suggested by some. I wouldn’t be opposed to that. The Premier League deserves the best in class across the board and we bring in the best players and managers from across the globe. Why can’t we do the same with referees? What I am certain of is that any change has to begin with referees being more transparent and building up a better working-relationship between themselves and players/managers. The untouchable boys club mentality can’t go on.
UtdEffect 