Just as Liverpool have suffered recently, both title contenders Arsenal and Tottenham lost this weekend in two games framed by refereeing decisions. A situation in which those teams claimed direct harm and which has raised questions about a system that in matchday seven prompted Liverpool's defeat to Spurs.
Mikel Arteta was blunt in describing the referees' performance this weekend as "absolutely disgraceful" after they awarded Anthony Gordon's goal, following a foul by Joelinton and a questionable foul by Joe Willock, where the ball could have gone over the end line. "My duty is to defend my players, my club and my people to the best of my ability. This is what I will do again and again and I do it with evidence," Arteta said. The Spaniard's statement also earned him criticism from the media after he changed his tune when on the VAR error with Liverpool he defended the referees. "They are trying to make the best decisions," he said.
Ange Postecoglou was more diplomatic when criticising the video refereeing decisions. First, he accepted the two sending-offs. "Decisions are decisions, you either accept them or not. Some of it is self-inflicted (but) if we are going to go out and complain about bad decisions every week, what will happen is what happened today: a forensic study of every decision." However, he did point to VAR as a detrimental factor in refereeing. "This constant erosion of the referees' authority is what is going to happen in the game. They will have no authority, it will be diminished and we will be under the control of someone a few miles away looking at a television screen," he told Sky Sports.
According to the X Indykaila News account, the VAR is rumoured to have started using live TV commentary when reviewing footage. If this is true, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher will have real power when decisions such as the Chelsea penalty are made.
21/12/2024
21/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
20/12/2024
19/12/2024
19/12/2024