Ex-England defender misconstrues Liverpool statement and insists it’s time to get over VAR farce
Former Tottenham and England defender Graham Roberts is calling for people to ‘move on’ from the controversial incidents in Spurs’ victory over Liverpool last Saturday.The game in north London was overshadowed by the officials on VAR failing to overturn the erroneous on-field offside call which saw Luis Diaz deprived of a perfectly fair goal which […]
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Former Tottenham and England defender Graham Roberts is calling for people to ‘move on’ from the controversial incidents in Spurs’ victory over Liverpool last Saturday.
The game in north London was overshadowed by the officials on VAR failing to overturn the erroneous on-field offside call which saw Luis Diaz deprived of a perfectly fair goal which would’ve given the Reds a 1-0 lead in a match they lost 2-1.
The Merseyside club duly issued a statement which suggested that ‘sporting integrity’ had been ‘undermined’ by the referees’ failings, and that they intend to ‘explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution’.
However, while Roberts – seemingly misinterpreting that as Liverpool asking for a replay – admitted the goal should’ve stood, he otherwise had little sympathy for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who had two players sent off.
The 64-year-old posted on X: “I’ve been listening to Sky Sports News, am I going mad? Yes the refs mucked up on Saturday re the goal, the sending offs were right, now they saying we should replay the match. JOKE.
“Should Man Utd v Wolves get replayed when Wolves didn’t get [a] penalty? Everybody needs to move on”.
I’ve been listening to skysports news am I going mad , yes the refs mucked up on Saturday re the goal the sending offs were right , now they saying we should replay the match JOKE. Should Man Utd v wolves get replayed when wolves didn’t get penalty . Everybody needs to move on
— Graham Roberts (@GrahamRoberts4) October 2, 2023
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As a former Tottenham player, Roberts will naturally be biased towards the club, and one would highly doubt that he’d be pleading for everyone to ‘move on’ if the VAR farce which transpired on Saturday happened the other way around.
It’s this shoulder-shrugging ‘it happens’ mentality which facilitates weekly eruptions over refereeing controversies in the Premier League, and every club has been affected by it in recent weeks and months.
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If the authorities simply moved on from the weekend’s mess and failed to take steps towards preventing a repeat occurrence, it’d be negligence of the highest order. In fact, it’d arguably be an admission that they’re happy for clubs to be messed about by inexcusable errors which are the fault of others.
Also, even if Roberts interpreted the reports he saw as Liverpool asking for a replay, one look at the club’s statement would be enough to determine that that particular word wasn’t mentioned once by LFC.
They’re not begging for replays or points to be restored, but rather a deeper discussion towards improving the standards of officiating and VAR usage for the benefit of every stakeholder involved.
This saga is far from over, not until necessary lessons have evidently been learned.
#Ep92 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones: VAR disaster at Tottenham, what next for the Reds, Liverpool Women impress AND MORE!The post Ex-England defender misconstrues Liverpool statement and insists it’s time to get over VAR farce appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.