IT’S KILLING THE GAME

VAR condemned for ruining Mersey derby Liverpool demand probe into key decisions

LIVERPOOL last night took the extraordinary step of demanding the Premier League explain the two hugely contentious VAR decisions which cost them victory in a thrilling Merseyside derby.

On a day when football’s growing chorus of contempt for the muchderided system reached fever pitch, Liverpool were left wanting answers from football chiefs following the 2-2 draw at Goodison.

Fans up and down the country could not believe a horror tackle from Everton keeper Jordan Pickford on Virgil van Dijk went unpunished by referee Michael Oliver and VAR David Coote.

And there was incredulity when Jordan Henderson’s injury- time ‘winner’ was ruled out after VAR decreed Sadio Mane was millimetres offside in the build-up — even though TV replays were inconclusive at best.

A furious Gary Lineker led the anti- VAR vitriol, accusing it of ‘sucking the life out of the game’. And the former England skipper turned TV pundit then claimed use of the reviled technology is all part of a ‘power grab by referees’.

Even in VAR’s brief, 14-month life in England’s top flight there has rarely been quite so much bitterness directed at a system which fans, former professionals and even some current players have said simply isn’t fit for purpose.

Certainly Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was left devastated by the decisions which went against the champions.

‘It’s getting harder and harder to take,’ said the angry German, provoking Liverpool to deliver their unprecedented request for clarification from the Premier League.

Pickford’s sixth-minute challenge on Van Dijk — it forced the Dutchman off with a knee injury that could keep him out for months — was wild at best, violent conduct at worst and BT Sport pundits were amazed the England keeper wasn’t sent off. Former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch said: ‘As ex-players we will tell you, it’s a potential legbreaking tackle. It’s horrendous.’

And Everton icon Leon Osman agreed, adding: ‘It’s an absolutely horrendous tackle and we don’t want to see it in the game. It’s a career-ender.’

Even former Premier League referee Peter Walton could not support either Oliver or Coote’s view of the X-rated tackle, which did not lead to a Liverpool penalty because

Van Dijk was offside when Pickford clattered into him. ‘Players don’t get a free shot just because the whistle has gone,’ Walton told BT Sport. ‘If I was the VAR I’d have asked referee Michael Oliver to go and take another look. If that was in the centre of midfield that would have been a sending-off.’

And there was even more contempt hurled at VAR when Henderson had his late effort chalked off because of a knife-edge offside call against Mane.

Klopp said: ‘I come in the dressing room and people stand there with a laptop. And we watch the situation back and we don’t understand why this was offside.

‘Since then I had 10 interviews and everyone tells me it was not offside and that doesn’t lift my mood obviously.

‘Look, I’m a real supporter of VAR but what you expect with offside is the right decision.’

The German’s sentiments were echoed elsewhere, especially after the official VAR graphic released by the Premier League with the lines super-imposed on the picture seemed to show Mane looked level with the defence when he received the pass from Thiago.

Henderson even suggested skulduggery with the application of the lines, saying: ‘I think they bend the lines sometimes to make it offside. I’m not sure how they do it, I’ve seen it before.’

‘How’s that offside? Game’s gone mad,’ tweeted Cesc Fabregas. Ex-Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar posted: ‘This feels so not like football.

Former Spurs and England midfielder Jermaine Jenas added: ‘That offside just doesn’t feel right. There just seems to be so much human error in this decision-making. Where do you draw the line?’

The clamour for change isn’t going away — not that this does Klopp any favours at the end of a game where he could legitimately claim he and his team were robbed of a deserved victory.

‘So we lost one player in a situation where VAR was not involved with Virgil (van Dijk) and didn’t score a goal, a legitimate goal, whatever the word is, which didn’t count,’ said the Liverpool manager. ‘So obviously not our day.’