Liverpool’s first Premier League defeat was not handled properly by the VAR team. An apology and transparency are therefore not enough for coach Jürgen Klopp to make amends.
He has calmed down. For the most part, at least. Even if the wrongly disallowed opening goal in Liverpool’s defeat against Tottenham has not yet let Jürgen Klopp go. Some journalists’ questions don’t even give him a chance to do that.
Because LFC, which had started the season strongly, conceded its first defeat in London, which it might not have had to concede without the referee’s mistake, the Reds’ long-time successful coach remains disgruntled. And a bit unforgiving, even if he is “not angry with anyone”. The publication of the VAR communication “didn’t change anything” about that.
While Klopp said at the press conference ahead of Liverpool’s Europa League game against Union St Gilloise on Thursday that “nobody needs more penalties”. The VAR in charge Darren England and his VAR assistant Dan Cook had been recalled from their subsequent Premier League assignments. But there was another idea the 56-year-old could go along with: a replay. The 19-time champions are still looking at a formal request to the league, Klopp said: “We are still looking at the information we have. “
Klopp would have settled for a gift goal
“I guess the argument against it would be that you’re opening up too much, that in the future everyone will then ask about it,” admitted Klopp, who, however, regards Liverpool’s disadvantage by the VAR as a precedent: “As far as I can remember, it’s never happened before.” Therefore, on balance, the 2020 champion coach said he already thinks a replay “would be the right decision”. He would also hold this opinion should such mistakes occur more often in the future.
Klopp’s alternative would have been for the referee to put heads together with both coaches and say, “Sorry, we made a mistake, but we can sort it out. Just let Liverpool score a goal and we’ll start again.” The replay option sounds more likely…