Dermot Gallagher has weighed in on Jeremy Doku’s controversial tackle on Alexis Mac Allister.
The former official admitted it would have been ‘easy to give the penalty’ from his point of view when analysing the incident for Sky Sports.
The Irishman referred back to a similar incident faced at Bournemouth, noting that, ultimately, getting the ball doesn’t always negate a foul.
It’s such a shame that we were then denied a potential opportunity to win the tie in such a tight title race.
You can catch the clip below, courtesy of Sky Sports:
🗣️ "From my point of view, it's easy to give the penalty"
Dermot Gallagher on whether Liverpool should have a got a penalty when Jeremy Doku connected with Alexis Mac Allister inside the box 🔴 pic.twitter.com/sSW2M95txR
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 11, 2024
The key issue here is the positioning of Michael Oliver. He is directly behind MacAllister. As such he has zero visibility of the contact made by Doku’s studs into the chest. This is the reason that VAR was brought in, to aid a referee who may have missed an incident or had his view impeded. This is a clear case where the VAR should have told Oliver to go and look at the monitor.
Oddly this wasn’t even the worst performance by VAR this weekend. Take a look at Moder’s tackle in the Brighton Forest game and explain to me how VAR in a studio, with video replays from multiple angles does not result in a red card.
Michael Oliver is a bully. Every other official is afraid to challenge his decision. VAR and even Gallagher in the studio. He is bullying them to put himself in pole position to referee an international event. His positioning on the Doku incident, he had to go to the screen at least. VAR officials afraid to send him to review to raise the profile that he does not rely on VAR. Shame, really.
It isn’t a coincidence that these errors often occur whenever Mike OliVAR officiates Liverpool matches. Odegard’s blatant hand ball inside the 18 yard box at Anfield was blatantly ignored by Mike and the VAR didn’t have the courage to ask him to check it out. If we miss the title by one or 2 points again, PGMOL should be held responsible.
Watching the game I knew Liverpool would not get a penalty as soon as it went to var. They disallowed a perfectly good goal by Van Dyke against Chelsea which had less interference by Endo than the interference by Ake for City’s goal and made a complete mess of an offside call for the Diaz goal against Spurs. Don’t know which teams the var incompetent staff support but it certainly isn’t Liverpool. If I did my job as well as them I would have been sacked long ago.
Exactly – VAR is not the problem – this is the problem: The officials on the pitch (to a smaller extent) and the officials using VAR (like us all) have a certain amount of bias.
But, when that bias is blatantly and consistently seen (over a season or more) that’s the ‘evidence’ that biases of ‘some’ officials are determining the outcome of games, seasons and titles.
Officiating in the PL over the last 4 – 5 years has managed to go from bad to worse, it’s actually damaging the integrity of the game – and that hurts all teams, players and supporters.
Exactly what Klopp said after the Spuds game.
I am done with referees in the Epl. Shame on them.
Great comment as well as honest observation. Unfortunately we have too many wrong decisions in many games . This should not be happening if we reckon we have the best league . Refereeing is probably the worst. Nothing to be proud of .
Liverpool isn’t the only club being punished for nothing . Hope City still get their punishment. Everton was dealt with quickly . Why does it take so long to deal with City ?
My ask exactly…… why does it take too long to deal with city?
It could go either way. One of those decisions like we have had in the past. He got to the ball on one leg so is stood still. Something no one mentioned on anything I’ve seen. McAllister is moving toward him fast. I would have been happy if it would have been awarded but annoyed if it went against.
High kicking near a player is dangerous play and a foul & possible red card- full stop. Doesn’t matter if he gets ball first. You often see players get ball but then get the ankle- off they go. Having said that I think the ref had a good game generally.
VAR and our refs have proved they are unfit for purpose. Aston villa should have had a pen before Spurs scored, and surely the Man City keeper should have seen red for the foul on Nunez as he was nowhere near getting the ball. Forest v Brighton, red card all day. Why is this not being sorted?
You always get dubious decisions whether it be fouls free kick,penalties sending off bookings .They are always questionable by the ref.Sometimes a player dives to get a pen so it is hard for the ref to see all the actions when he can’t keep up with the play or a crowd of players are blocking his view but to me he seems oblivious to see what’s going on around him .I think they should have a linesman/referee running the line as well as ref on the field of play but then again you would get different decisions by the officials but then one could overule the other.
Fully agree, officiating and pundits really what are they getting paid for. I’m an Arsenal fan and a draw suits me fine but that was a penalty all day
It’s sad to say for me it was penalty but it always happens to us
VAR is doing more damage than what it’s meant to be. It has made EPL less interesting recently. VAR must be scrapped!!
I second to your opinion bro
I have said many times now that it is NOT Var that is the problem, it is the acceptance or otherwise by the referees. Michael Oliver is probably the worst transgressor as he gets the lions share of the big games. I know Michael well as he is from Ashington where I was honored to manage for three seasons and he was often the subject of serious discussions about decisions in The Northern League where there was no VAR and to be honest there were many times when Michael’s interpretation of events was at variance with that of the multitude of other witnesses. Michael, Docu’s “tackle” WAS not within the laws of the game and a penalty was the correct decision. You may well have robbed Liverpool of the league championship – I hope not!
There nothing wrong with VAR, it’s the people who do checks, that’s where the problem lies. To cover themselves they must involve the ref, let him make the final decision and take the 2 captains with him to cover themselves
I agree completely. We have now had three incidents this season. These referees are going to cost us the league title. Don’t they have rules when VAR is involved. I did not even see the VAR on the screen but also thought it should be a penalty. When I saw who the referee was I knew there would be problems.
Further,the ref is just 2-3 yards when that incident happened and being elected to officiate that kind of tie the ref should put on his mind that viewers around the world expect a certain class of officiating This should not just go away unpunished, and if not, how we are going to enjoy a match when we know the ref will mess us?
Stuart Atwell (on VAR) has had many a run in with LFC and I knew if there was a controversial decision he would not give it to them. His VAR decisions were made in about 10 seconds so consequently they were made quickly as play was continuing so nobody could question why…..the commentators just said the check has been made and play continues, it was so obvious LFC would not get that penalty decision as Atwell, Tierney, Taylor, Coote have an agenda against the club, as have most clubs have officials who make poor decisions against certain clubs….as stated Michael Oliver was standing behind MacAllister and did not have a clear view, hence the VAR official should “help” the ref out but because certain officials have agendas against certain clubs, he declined to send Oliver to the screen to review his decision. Atwell is a disgrace………
A few months ago Curtis Jones received a red card on the basis of a follow through foul. Sunday night this same phrase “follow through” was one of the reasons why the penalty or foul was not allowed. Please tell me the difference between the two incidents.
I could not agree more with the sentiments shared. After 40 years of watching the English Premier, I am disappointed at the way VAR is dictating the outcomes of high profile games. The Premier league has become a dictatorship and an embarrassment to the football world. Liverpool on the other hand is bearing the brunt of challenging the officials at an instiitutional level. They clearly are being victimized, leaving Klopp no choice but to leave.
I’ve got a funny feeling that the refs and VAR are up to no good, making decisions to keep the title race as tight as possible. This will keep Sky Sports and sports media pundits busy and keep the neutrals on the edge of their seats.
VAR & the referees would favour M City. If Var & the referees were neutral and with integrity, Lpool would win & get the penalty. Arsenal will falter but deserved the title last season. M City won due to VAR & referees biasness. Everyone in Asia and many in Europe believe the filthy rich clubs are favoured by VAR & Referees Board. Integrity issues will ruin EPL and everyone is hoping Klopp reveals the truth to the media and in his new book when he departs EPL at the end of the season. Shame on English football bureaucracy in handling this monstrous integrity issue!!
Very correct. Klopp is certainly very correct in all his observations and comments on Liverpool vs Man City and other games cited. There are so many inconsistencies by some very biased referees, which must be looked into for this league to maintain its prestige.
Joke English soccer..tackle over the height of the ball is a foul any where on the pitch …it was a penalty for the world to see
Certainly goal but the ref and var denied Liverpool the win but they can’t stop Liverpool from winning the trophy 🏆
I always said it var leaves the game of football open to corruption and bias its just gone totally ridiculous and should be removed from the game if they have to use it have ex footballers sitting with the var referee or have.three var referees looking at the monitor.but since it was brought in it has caused nothing but trouble and controversies ruined the game of football and you can’t even enjoy it when your team does score in case var rules it out its ridiculous
Gallagher says it’s 50/50 in terms of people interpreting whether it was a penalty or not .. absolute bullshit . If that incident had been reversed I think most people would agree that Man Cheaty would have received a penalty no question . So basically it comes down to the integrity of the VAR officials . I’d like to see a panel of former players given the job . Irrespective of occasional bias , I think they would be more transparent than the corrupt shower we have now .
The referee didn’t want Liverpool to win. It’s as plain and simple as that. But what he did in that match will haunt him all his life.
I think people at the premier league board are consciously demarketing the EPL by allowing this charade of officiating to continue.
It is not rocket science to agree that frustrations from these unquestionable officials is forcing people like Jurgen Klopp to quit the league to preserve his sanity.
Now we knew why Klop is tired. Hestired of complaining against bias decisions against him, he’s tired of Premier League refs, he’s tired of working so hard and losing titles to bad officiating., he’s tired of corruption in the PL. Initially many pundits dismissed his argument for a penalty until they watched the crime scene again. We can’t continue to take these injustices. Enough is enough