"Oli's calling in to say delay the game." Who the **** is Oli? please log in to view this image The only "Oli" involved in the match official list was Michael Oliverpool, the 4th official. Why would he be calling in, if it's him? He wouldn't have seen the images. Edit: I've done some browsing and it may be the VAR leader at the PGMOL.
Something just struck me, listening to the audio of that again. Why were the VAR officials giving an ongoing commentary to the ref? They're supposed to be there for rewatching specific decisions. They're actually giving advice about every single second.
The release of the audio opens Pandora's box irreversibly. There is no reason why any team who feels aggrieved by a decision shouldn't be allowed to do the same. Just because Luton don't have as many former players working as pundits, that doesn't mean they deserve less transparency. Which means the PGMOL is a step away from going all-in and finally taking a leaf out of rugby's book at actually broadcasting all interventions and decisions at source. Which means Liverpool may have inadvertently helped the standard of refereeing to a quantum leap forward. However, none of the above will happen. Audios will only be released when a select few teams throw a big enough tantrum, and the standard of refereeing will remain where it currently is. In the gutter.
There are definitely some ‘clear and obvious’ communication issues here. It’s obviously chaotic and they want to move fast and make the game flow. That should obviously be the aim but getting things wrong in this way because of the poor and chaotic nature of the communication is ridiculous. I don’t think it needs to go all the way to how rugby do it, which is having 2 ways to ask to check an incident (for example it used to be defined as “Is there any reason why I can not award the try?” Which basically assumed that a try had been scored and meant the TMO had to disprove that it had, within a certain frame of reference, and “Try, yes or no?” Which implied that the on pitch officials didn’t know what had happened and were asking the TMO to tell them) but it can’t be that difficult for the ref to clearly state to the VAR what the on pitch decision has been and for them to check it. Football is a less chaotic game so you don’t necessarily need that level of complexity. Having the ref say something like “On pitch decision is offside and no goal, free kick to Spurs, can you check that?” clearly communicates the ask. Then the VAR can check the offside. If it’s off, they confirm the original decision. If it’s on, they quickly check for any other infringements within the pre-defined frame of reference (did the player who played the pass handle the ball? Or were they offside?) and then communicate the outcome to the on-pitch officials. Communication should end with “Check complete, you may award the goal” or similar. Basically they should always have to communicate the process is finished and define the final outcome before the on-pitch ref signals the decision to the stadium. Each match needs defined avenues of communication. There’s the on-pitch team who need to have one person who they speak to. This doesn’t have to be the VAR and AVAR themselves (I.e. the actual qualified referee and their assistant who is reviewing tape) but just someone to centralise communication. That way you get a more defined path of communication. It’s ridiculous how frantic they sound. The whole place sounded like utter chaos on there. Obviously this sort of thing can only easily apply to cards, goals and free kicks/penalties where there is a natural, if brief, pause in the game anyway. I understand there’s a running conversation (at least it sounds like it anyway, based on that audio) of considerations as the play goes on during the game but that’s the point of having a dedicated communicator for the on-pitch team to interact with. That way the qualified officials based in the room can get on with checking things in process (and picking frames to judge etc, all of which sounds annoying) while the central point of communication keeps everyone informed when a decision needs to be made.
https://x.com/henrywinter/status/1709261382724497768?s=46&t=IxQSZ55OspVSss2qXZdUlg Looks like they’re already actioning some of the above.
It definitely raises a lot of questions. The referee himself is almost entirely absent from the first half of the audio, right up until the check is completed and the incorrect ruling confirmed (presumably because of a lapse of focus where the VAR official thought they were confirming that Diaz was onside). Firstly, do we know that the ref heard this conversation clearly? In a stadium filled with 60,000 incensed fans, there is every chance he or the linesmen don't and could well have missed certain clues (such as the clear reference to Romero's left foot) that might have warned them that VAR was looking at the right image but with the wrong pair of glasses on. His only contribution is to conclude by saying "well done boys, good process", which is a nonsense as he wasn't involved at any stage of said process. It was only good insofar as it removed him and his assistants entirely from the picture, which, now that i type it, is at the very core of what is so wrong with VAR conceptually. The neutering of on pitch officials and the dangerous underlying assumption that they don't know what they are doing and can't render a competent decision without a nanny hovering over them like a stale fart. The psychology of the 'process' is frankly bizarre.
In the frames on the video , the assistant (lino ) has not raised his flag, so the VAR team looking at those pictures doesn't know that he has disallowed the goal until the free kick is taken and then they go into surprised mode.
Just seen Klopp talking about a replay, I don't agree. If there was no VAR which is what I'd prefer we'd have to accept mistakes happen. I'd be happier with my club if we called out the VAR system and pushed that it was not fit for purpose. Other than moaning about decisions.
I was actually amazed how well Klopp handled it on Saturday. Clearly that was just a glitch, and he has now reverted back to his usual self.
