2023-10-01 07:41:00
Jürgen Klopp looked broken. “We would have earned the point. We would have celebrated that one point like five,” he explained to “beIN Sports”. Shortly before, his Reds suffered an extremely bitter defeat, an own goal from Joel Matip deprived Liverpool, who had been sent off twice, of a deserved draw at Tottenham Hotspur (90th + 6th).
“It almost seems like fate,” said Klopp, looking back on the dramatic injury time. “Joel was exceptionally good today. He sticks his foot out a little and the ball goes into the goal. But there are worse things in life. That’s just the way it is.”
And indeed: Matip’s own goal was a stab in the heart for the Reds, but the biggest upset of the evening was caused by the video evidence and referee Simon Hooper – as Klopp also made it clear.
“I have never been as proud of my team as I am today,” said Klopp on “Sky Sports” regarding his team’s performance, which played outnumbered for over 70 minutes and made life difficult for Tottenham. “But I’ve never seen a game like this, with extremely unfair circumstances and crazy decisions.”
Malefactor Jones: Klopp sees “no bad tackle”
It was the 24th minute when Curtis Jones threw his full weight into the ankle of Tottenham’s Yves Bissouma. Referee Hooper initially showed the young Englishman a yellow card, but was prompted by the VAR to look at the scene once more on the monitor. No sooner said than done – the referee changed his mind and sent Jones straight into the shower.
“Curtis climbs onto the ball and slides over it. That wasn’t a bad tackle,” said Klopp, describing the situation from his perspective. “It looks different in slow motion. He goes straight for the ball and shoots over it. That’s unfortunate.”
Gary Neville, former Manchester United player and current Sky pundit, agreed with Klopp and criticized Hooper and Co. for the decision. “No, no, no. I know when you knock someone out. I did it myself – and he didn’t want it,” Neville commented on the scene during the live broadcast.
The scene of the evening: Curtis Jones fouls Yves Bissouma
Photo credit: Image
“They show the final movement, which looks bad, but that’s not what happened,” said Neville, criticizing the images provided by VAR. “His foot slipped off the ball. It’s not a red card, but he’ll get one and that will probably ruin the game.”
Neville was right with his red prediction, but the quality of the game did not suffer from the sending off. Liverpool even pulled themselves together when they were outnumbered and took the supposed lead just a few minutes later – but instead of 1-0, the next upset of the evening was on the agenda.
Carragher: “Then you know that something has been screwed up!”
In the 35th minute, Mohamed Salah sent his strike colleague Luis Diaz a steep pass, and the Colombian placed the ball accurately into the bottom left corner from a tight angle. The decimated Reds’ joy didn’t last long, however, as the referee team ruled the game offside. The VAR did not report this time, and despite the tight conditions the game continued just a few moments later – but the official images were not shown on live TV.
“I came into the dressing room at half-time and one of my assistants unlocked his cell phone. First photo on Instagram: No offside,” Klopp responded to the controversial scene. “We also saw it in the game, it was 100 percent clear to us.”
“It’s not offside when you see the pictures. They drew their lines wrong,” Klopp took the VAR to task.
But Klopp didn’t want to pillory the referee for it. “We can’t hold him responsible for this,” the former Dortmund player made clear. “Whoever made the mistake certainly didn’t do it on purpose.”
Jamie Carragher, Liverpool’s former midfield engine, was a little harsher on the referees. “If you have to wait so long for an answer following a controversial decision, then you know that someone has screwed up,” wrote the 2005 Champions League winner on “X/Twitter” during the game, according to the English Referees Association (PGMOL) had not provided any official images of the scene.
PGMOL admits mistakes – Klopp waves it off
In the end, the association came out with a statement and admitted a mistake in the offside decision.
“PGMOL admits that a serious human error was made in the first half between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC,” the statement said. “Diaz’s goal was disallowed by the on-field team due to an offside position. This was a clear and factual error and should have been reversed by the use of the VAR. But the VAR did not intervene.”
“PMGOL will fully investigate the circumstances that led to this error. PMGOL will contact Liverpool immediately following the game to confirm the error.”
A sincere apology from the association – but it doesn’t give Liverpool the points they lost. “Who does this help now?” asked Klopp at the press conference. “There was also a similar situation between Manchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Did they get points for that? That just doesn’t help.”
“We won’t get any points for this,” Klopp continued. “Nobody expects the decisions on the pitch to be 100 percent correct. But I think we all thought that the VAR would make things easier.”
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