Jürgen Klopp was vilified for even mentioning the term ‘replay’ earlier in the season. That came after Liverpool was on the end of what even the PGMOL had to admit was a major error, with the VAR team coming to the conclusion that a goal should be awarded against Spurs, only for a miscommunication to result in play being waved on.
Nothing quite so egregious has happened since then — although it seems only good fortune prevented a carbon-copy situation in a Chelsea game the very next week. The PGMOL has updated its practices in light of what happened to Liverpool (hence why VAR checks are now generally taking longer), and mistakes since then have been confined to more traditional boundaries.
Naturally, with refereeing mistakes a more accepted part of the fabric of the game than administrative errors in the course of awarding goals, Klopp has not since brought up replays. But Liverpool will nonetheless surely be fed up with the volume of apologies it is getting.
After all, while the Luis Díaz error may never be matched, similar logic applies to a certain extent. Ultimately, PGMOL can admit fault and even change its processes as much as it likes, but Liverpool will not get the points back.
The latest reason for that frustration to resurface is a 4-1 vote that Liverpool should have had a penalty when Martin Ødegaard swatted the ball away with his hand in the recent draw against Arsenal. Quite what that one member of the panel was thinking is baffling, but in any case, Howard Webb conceded on Match Officials: Mic’d Up that the game expects a spot kick in these situations.
Of course, Klopp could have told him that weeks ago, and indeed did so. He expressed his bemusement after the game (via the Mirror):
“The penalty situation is a weird situation, I don’t know if the ref can see it, but you look at it and I’m not sure how you can say it’s not a penalty. I’m pretty sure someone will explain it to me about why it wasn’t a handball, but I don’t know how.”
In the end, PGMOL did not even attempt to explain that it should be a penalty, although the VAR audio confirmed that the idea Ødegaard was slipping was behind the decision. But the ‘weird’ situations are now mounting up, and no amount of apologies improves Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League.
