Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp took a sarcastic swipe at the referees for making another blunder against his team
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp took a jibe against the referees after another game of poorly implemented VAR decisions. The Reds beat Burnley 0-2 at Turf Moor in the Premier League Boxing Day game filled with bad decisions.
The game involved two wrongly disallowed Liverpool goals from Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliot. The poor refereeing decisions against Liverpool have already cost several points to the Reds in a tightly-contested title chase.
Gakpo scored what should have been the second goal of the game for the Reds in the 28th minute. Referee Paul Tierney gave a wrongful foul after believing that Darwin Nunez fouled Charlie Taylor in the build-up.
However, Nunez never touched Taylor yet VAR official Simon Hooper decided to stick to the on-field referees’ decision. In the 55th minute, VAR deemed Elliot’s goal as offside due to Mohamed Salah “impeding the sight” of the goalkeeper.
The replay clearly showed that Burnley defender Jordan Beyer pushed Salah into the offside position during the build-up. Liverpool managed to secure the victory thanks to Diogo Jota’s late goal despite these shocking controversies.
Speaking to Amazon Prime (h/t Metro) after the match, Klopp mocked the decision-maker for making such an easy decision, wrong. He said:
“Only somebody who has never played football can make this an offside. It’s insane when you see that. Why do referees create their own view on something? We all watch football and need the referee but we need them to make the right interpretations of the rules. It’s like, wow. Handball is sometimes handball and all these kinds of things.”
Liverpool are competing with Arsenal and Manchester City for the Premier League title this season with no room for mistakes. However, concern looms among the Kopites and numerous football pundits as the Reds have dropped several points due to poor refereeing.
"I think the more understandable decision would have been to give the penalty"
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 26, 2023
Dermot Gallagher believes that Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty for a handball from Martin Odegaard in their game against Arsenal pic.twitter.com/JSLIni9jP5
Liverpool have already dropped points in draws against Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal where blatant handball incidents happened. The Reds suffered two highly controversial red cards and a legitimate disallowed goal in their 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
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Hooper refereed that game and caused a lot of grievance to the Reds throughout the game with his poor officiating. While a lot of damage has already occurred, the Kopites are not seeking special treatment but rather fairness.
It has reached the point where officials are either too mistake-prone or there is a serious question about their integrity. Klopp has voiced his displeasure over the years, particularly against the referee Tierney, known for making biased decisions against Liverpool.
