BRIGHTON – Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said he would like to see the video assistant referee (VAR) system scrapped and a return to “normal” football, after three decisions went against his team on Saturday.
Brighton & Hive Albion earned a 1-1 draw with the champions when they were given a stoppage-time penalty after referee Stuart Attwell was sent to the pitchside monitor and ruled that Andy Robertson had caught striker Danny Welbeck as he cleared. Liverpool had two offside goals ruled out by VAR.
“I don’t want to speak for anybody else but in my opinion I would,” Henderson said. “I just want to play football as normal.
“I saw Kevin de Bruyne saying in an interview they have changed so many rules we don’t know what they are anymore. That for me is a big problem. In my opinion I would rather play without it,” he said.
“The third one, I don’t know, it’s not a penalty. You can think I’m biased but if you ask four or five or their lads they will say the same thing... You feel as though there are a lot of decisions that go against you, but that decision for me today is baffling,” he said.
VAR is meant to overturn “clear and obvious” errors made by referees and Liverpool’s James Milner said its constant intervention in the decision-making process was ruining the game.
“It’s ‘clear and obvious’ we need a serious discussion about VAR,” Milner wrote on Twitter. “Sure I’m not alone in feeling like they are falling out of love with the game in its current state.”
Television pundit Gary Lineker agreed with Milner, saying VAR had changed the sport and “certainly not for the better” while Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp struck a more resigned tone.
“We are used to armpits. We have a toe today. It is how it is. I think the decisions were right,” he said.
“What do you want me to say? I said it was a penalty because the ref whistled it, after watching it.”
Reuters