PINION I’ve had enough of VAR and Premier League referees – they could cost Liverpool the title

PINION I’ve had enough of VAR and Premier League referees – they could cost Liverpool the title

John Aldridge reflects on Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal and previews today’s clash with Burnley in the Christmas edition of his weekly Liverpool column

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ByJohn Aldridge
05:00, 26 DEC 2023
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Howard Webb and referee Simon Hooper

I am seriously concerned by the standard of officiating we are seeing in the Premier League on a weekly basis.

Quite how Martin Odegaard’s handball against Liverpool on Saturday evening was missed is an absolute mystery. I was doing commentary on the game and could see it from way up in the stands, so how did referee Chris Kavanagh not spot it? It was absolutely blatant.

David Coote, who was on VAR, deemed it an incident not worth referring Kavanagh to the pitchside monitor for. It just beggars belief, honestly. We’ve had issues in the past with Coote – most notably when he was on VAR the time Jordan Pickford decided to end Virgil van Dijk’s season and didn’t even get a yellow card for doing so.

This was the easiest decision Coote will have to make all season and he’s somehow got it wrong. Odegaard’s hand has moved towards the ball. If that was outside the box, that’s 100 per cent a foul. So what’s the difference with it being in the penalty area as opposed to anywhere else on the pitch?

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It was played down on the television and was not scrutinised in the same way many decisions are, which was bizarre. It is so poor, it’s shambolic. It doesn’t make any sense as to how it was not picked up by VAR.

Odegaard has panicked when he’s seen Salah moving past him with the ball, and we’ve all done it. This shouldn’t be overshadowing what was a great game, but it is an absurd call and it cannot be brushed to one side. Coote should be taken off duty for two weeks after this because who knows how much of a say this could have later down the line?

This wrong call could be the difference between us winning the league and finishing second. We’ve already had to deal with the debacle of the Luis Diaz disallowed goal at Tottenham Hotspur and now we’ve been involved in another disgraceful decision. When is this going to stop? If it is a 50/50 decision, you can sympathise. But it was a clear penalty, so what has Coote seen that stopped him from flagging it up?

Moving on from VAR, I have to give credit to Arsenal for at least making it an enjoyable game. Unlike Manchester United, they arrived at Anfield with a real purpose and could be proud of their performance. They are evolving as a team under their manager and you can clearly see how they’ve improved.

Our draw with Arsenal was a great result for Manchester City, more than anyone else. They will have been delighted with how that played out and will now fancy their chances of hunting us and Arsenal down. They are going to come back fighting when De Bruyne is fit, make no mistake about it.

Trent Alexander-Arnold could have won the game for us during the second half when we flooded forward and struck the crossbar. It was unlucky as it was not a true pass played to him. If we had a striker in that position, they would guide it and let the ball come off their foot. Trent went for power and that’s why it just went a little bit high, but the endeavour and sprinting he displayed to take up that position showed how much it meant to him. He was one of the best players on the pitch yet again, he is so influential. His assist for Salah’s goal was ridiculous.

Injuries beginning to bite

Losing Kostas Tsimikas was a major blow on Saturday night, it was such an unfortunate injury for him after impressing in the absence of Andy Robertson. We now have no fit senior left-back and that is a major worry. Robertson should at least be back next month, which will be brilliant, but it is a waiting game until then.

We really need to keep Joe Gomez fit because if we lose him, we’ve then got a real problem on our hands. Gomez is Mr Versatile, he can play at left-back, right-back and centre-back. That makes him such an asset to the team. He will likely have to fill in at left-back while Tsimikas is out. With James Milner no longer around, other people are going to have to step up and slot in where required.

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Alexis Mac Allister can’t be too far away from coming back now, along with Robertson and Jota. We don’t know about Bajcetic and I’m starting to give up on Thiago – I don’t know what has happened there. I’m hoping Luis Diaz’s setback is nothing serious. To lose him for an extended period again would be devastating.

Burnley are up next for Liverpool later this afternoon and they will be bang up for it after earning an impressive win at Fulham on Saturday.

Best wishes to ECHO readers

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas Day with your families, at what is a special time of the year. Thank you for reading my columns throughout 2023 and best wishes for the New Year. Let’s hope it’s a good one on and off the pitch!

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