PARDS AND KLOPP CALL FOR A SYSTEM UPGRADE
BOTH managers at the centre of the latest VAR trial have warned the system simply is not working.
And West Brom boss Alan Pardew has urged the football authorities to rethink their use of technology to help referees, saying a lack of communication was of no use to the players, managers or fans.
“I don’t think that is what we want to see going forward, whether you are a Liverpool or West Brom fan,” said Pardew
“Firstly, there is no communication from the referee to us. Like in the NFL, when there is a call and they say they are going to look at that.”
Pardew (below, right) also believes the time it took to review decisions subsequently led to his players picking up injuries.
With three VAR referrals in the first half alone, stopping the game for almost EIGHT minutes, West Brom saw fullback Kieran Gibbs go down with a hamstring injury after one stoppage, and then Hal Robson-kanu limp off before the break.
“But the bigger decision was the four minutes for the Mo Salah decision,” the Albion boss added.
“You are going from high-tempo work-rate to nothing.
“We had a hamstring injury just after that. As a coach, we have to change, we are going to have to get our players to mentally warm-up in that situation and keep themselves ticking over.
“It is just bizarre. As a football person on the sidelines, I wasn’t comfortable with the first half. It was a mysterious situation at times.”
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was more welcoming of the system, arguing that even if it took too long on a cold winter’s evening, at least two decisions which appeared to go against his side were corrected.
But the Reds manager (below, left) was furious about a first-half challenge from Baggies sub Ahmed Hegazi (above), who seemed to stamp on Roberto Firmino.
That was missed by referee Craig Pawson, and crucially ignored by Video Assistant Referee Andre Marriner, even though TV clearly showed replays of the incident straight after the challenge.
And the German coach fumed: “Harsh challenges should be picked up. If you see it on television, it’s just horrible. Hegazi was really lucky that he ended the game on the pitch.
“It was a harsh, harsh challenge... It was not even a foul, did he whistle? I’m not
100 per cent sure, but I think if the video assistant referee is not responsible for something like that, we should think over the rules again because the ref needs help in a situation like this. “I’m sure he would have whistled if he saw it.”
Klopp added the only note of encouragement on the night for the VAR, when he said the referee cannot be blamed for the system missing incidents. “It will always happen like this – you think, ‘OK, why is he not involved? Why does nobody tell him?’
“But I think tonight was a good sign, from this point of view a very interesting game. You had two situations – usually one is a goal, the other is no penalty.
“Usually, I have to talk about a defeat which maybe was not deserved because we didn’t get a penalty and they scored another goal. “It’s normal in the beginning that it takes a little bit longer. “But that will become a little bit smoother, more fluent, in future.”