02 October 2023 , 06:29
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Gary Neville believes Liverpool have made a huge "mistake" by releasing a statement in response to the PGMOL's admission of failures in the defeat to Tottenham.
The Reds delivered an explosive response to Darren England's awful error when confirming Luis Diaz 's goal should be ruled out, when it actually should have stood. A series of errors meant that England thought referee Simon Hooper had awarded the goal and did not realise his mistake until Spurs had restarted the game with a free kick.
Liverpool went on to lose, with Joel Matip scoring a last-minute own-goal to hand Spurs the win. While Reds boss Jurgen Klopp remained calm after the PGMOL admitted their error, the club have furiously hit out, insisting they are "exploring their options".
"Liverpool Football Club acknowledges PGMOL’s admission of their failures last night. It is clear that the correct application of the laws of the game did not occur, resulting in sporting integrity being undermined," the club's statement read.
"We fully accept the pressures that match officials work under but these pressures are supposed to be alleviated, not exacerbated, by the existence and implementation of VAR. It is therefore unsatisfactory that sufficient time was not afforded to allow the correct decision to be made and that there was no subsequent intervention.
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"That such failings have already been categorised as 'significant human error' is also unacceptable. Any and all outcomes should be established only by the review and with full transparency.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Did Liverpool make a mistake by releasing their statement on the VAR errors? Comment below.
Gary Neville believes Liverpool made a mistake by releasing a statement slamming the PGMOL (Sky Sports)"This is vital for the reliability of future decision-making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again.
"In the meantime, we will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution."
But Neville believes that Liverpool have made an error by coming out so forcefully. Instead, he insisted that the Reds should have accepted the PGMOL's apology and tried to move on, warning that talk of questioning sporting integrity was dangerous.
"Jurgen Klopp handled the situation well last night after the game. Most football fans will have had empathy with what happened and recognised it was wrong! However Liverpool's statement tonight is a mistake!" Neville tweeted.
"Talk of exploring all options (what does that mean!!!) and sporting integrity are dangerous phrases along with being vague and aggressive. Sorry we f***ed up was enough!! I said this last night. Sorry should be respected and not undervalued. This is a snap reaction that can always be wrong but I feel strongly about it."
Neville was then criticised for his stance on social media and immediately hit at one critic in particular. He was told "How is an apology enough? There needs to be repercussions." Neville wasn't having it and said: "What would you like mate? It's a f*** up. We've all done it."
The PGMOL stood down both England his assistant VAR Dan Cook from their roles in Sunday and Monday's Premier League games. The refereeing body is set to hold a crisis meeting on Monday morning as they continue to face questions.