PGMOL director Howard Webb appears on Sky Sports’ Match Officials:
The Mic’d Up’ program was supposed to bring more clarity, but did it actually dig a deeper hole for officials?
When problems arise in football, we often ask for transparency in the hope that it will lead to improvements and at least give fans some insight into how things can be made.
decision – right or wrong.
The VAR sound released following Luis Diaz’s offside call at Tottenham is a step in the right direction, but it certainly doesn’t reassure us.
It was exactly as chaotic as we had imagined and even more amateurish, with fans’ faith tested as another refereeing disaster hit the headlines.
We don’t like to talk about the officials after such important matches and they certainly don’t want their mistakes to be scrutinized, but here we go again.
Referee boss Webb faced the cameras on Tuesday night to empathize with his teammates and help with fan relations.
In reality, none of the damage was repaired and fans were once again left with more questions than answers from a series designed to do the opposite.
Maintained pressure
Sky Sports’ willingness to continue highlighting the incident more than a week later initially seemed positive.
Not even acknowledging the incident at halftime of the competition further undermined trust, as it led many to believe that someone had tried to cover up the mistake.
PGMOL issued a statement even before the final whistle and it is hoped the storm will pass within the next few days.
Liverpool ensured that this would not happen on this occasion, sending out a statement the next day insisting that “sporting integrity had been compromised” and then demanding that the VAR recording be made public.
Sky Sports’ willingness to continue highlighting the incident more than a week later initially seemed positive.
Not even acknowledging the incident at halftime of the competition further undermined trust, as it led many to believe that someone had tried to cover up the mistake.
PGMOL issued a statement even before the final whistle and it is hoped the storm will pass within the next few days.
Liverpool ensured that this would not happen on this occasion, sending out a statement the next day insisting that “sporting integrity had been compromised” and then demanding that the VAR recording be made public.
These images have opened up a new set of issues as the football world learns of the devastation that took place at Stockley Park, but importantly they keep the conversation alive.
All this prompted Webb to address the issue on television ten days later, but this time the conventional terminology would no longer be appropriate.
His claim that referee Simon Hooper and his two assistants had no knowledge of VAR misconduct was an immediate wake-up call for supporters.
Hooper may have been shielded from blame for Diaz’s defeat, but that doesn’t explain much of the on-field misbehavior that followed.
Funny error
Take away the incorrect offside call and this remains one of the worst refereeing performances in recent times.
Saying “it’s better he doesn’t know” so he can “focus on the present moment” only serves to eliminate mitigation and put more pressure on Hooper, when the intention is clearly the opposite again.
Car crash not over at Liverpool, Webb later claimed referee Michael Oliver did not want to have a ‘negative impact’ on Arsenal against Man City this weekend by ‘overreacting’ to the challenge given by Mateo.
Kovacic.
How can this happen when the rules are already established?
Especially because a few minutes earlier, he had explained that FIFA law “does not allow” common sense to be used to delay the match in cases like Diaz’s.
This begs the question: where is the line drawn?
The Red Devils received two red cards at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and both were doubtful, wouldn’t that have a ‘negative impact’ on this weekend’s biggest game?
The decision to keep Kovacic on the field was an isolated moment, but the inconsistency that arises from such decisions based on the state of the match can only lead to deeper problems.
Liverpool have received four red cards in their opening seven matches with decisions that could derail their season before it even started.
The sacking of Alexis Mac Allister at home to Bournemouth was overturned after an appeal and Diogo Jota’s dismissal from Tottenham was ruled incorrect by an independent panel.
Red cards for Curtis Jones and Virgil van Dijk are more subjective, but in a world where Kovacic is still on the field at the Emirates defending the game, one has to wonder why that luxury isn’t Coming to Jurgen’s Klopp army.
Boring contradictions
Webb admitted Kovacic was “extremely lucky” to escape a similar fate, but it was worrying to hear that a top referee would consider the possibility of “overreacting” by handing out appropriate penalties.
worth.
This is a complex enough sport with rules that seem to change every summer, there’s no need for officials to complicate their lives by applying context they don’t need to take into account.
It is enough to judge each scenario on its own merits.
Frustration is natural in times of injustice, but the long-term goal should always be to improve standards and increase consistency, regardless of tribal motivations.
The way our opponents perceive us does not help us find allies, but we should be proud of the fact that the football club does not want to take this easy.
Liverpool have been putting this issue at the forefront for over a week and facilitating positive change in the process.
Now it’s up to the referees to do their job, leaving professional footballers to focus on what this means for football as a whole.
