Jurgen Klopp questioned the point in VAR if the officials watching the footage can’t get a simple offside decision correct.
Last night, for Chelsea’s opener, Ross Barkley, whose initial header was saved, was offside.
It wasn’t obvious, but the ref went to VAR to check. The pictures are clear: the former Everton man was ahead of our defensive line by a whole leg.
https://twitter.com/_lfcleanne/status/1045052110809825280
Somehow, the officials missed this, or decided to ignore it, and awarded the goal. Chelsea eventually scored another and won 2-1, progressing to the next round of the EFL Cup in the process.
“I don’t think I have Liverpool glasses on my nose, but it’s offside. Not much. I don’t expect the ref to see that, but VAR can have a look. Why use it if you don’t want to make the decision?” Klopp said, reported by Neil Jones of Goal.
We understand that decisions will not always be correct and that officials have a very hard, pressurised job.
But offside is offside. It’s the most simple law in the game to get right if you have a paused, still screen with a line showing where Liverpool’s last defender was.
What’s more, the decision to award a foul on Naby Keita’s tackle in the first place was awful. Never mind. On to the next one.