John Cross believes that Liverpool’s statement in the wake of their controversial recent defeat to Tottenham has already ‘brought about a change’ in terms of the operation of VAR.
The match in north London was overshadowed by the unjust disallowing of Luis Diaz’s goal for offside, with audio from the VAR room subsequently highlighting that main operator Darren England was told of the incorrect call but refused to act upon it.
That statement – and Jurgen Klopp’s argument that the situation would’ve brought about a valid case for the match to be replayed – drew derision from many quarters, but The Mirror journalist has claimed that the Reds’ pleas for improvement to refereeing standards is already having a positive effect.
Speaking on Back Pages Tonight on Sky Sports News, Cross said: “If there’s one thing that’s really good to come out of this…when Liverpool went on the front foot with that statement and almost embarrassed people on it, in driving that change, it brought about a change. They brought about an extra layer of transparency.
“The PGMOL announced in the middle of last week to have an extra check by the assistant VAR. The VAR signs it off, but before he does that, he confirms it with the assistant VAR. That gives you an extra layer of security.”
The journalist added: “Going public like this will divide opinion on its value, but one thing is for sure – it highlights the problem, brings it to the fore. Clubs are fed up. They want change, and hopefully this will bring change and improvement.
“That’s the most important thing, and this highlighting of mistakes – and there have been too many – will hopefully drive that [improvement].”
Unlike many of his journalistic colleagues who misconstrued Klopp’s comments as ‘demanding’ a replay and castigating him for it, Cross has recognised that Liverpool’s objective with their statement was to try and instigate improvements to the operation of VAR and overall standards of refereeing in the Premier League.
The slight procedural change that he highlighted is a start towards that process, and for all the complaining about the club’s correspondence, it’s achieved one of its ambitions in proving a catalyst for a wider discussion on actions which could be taken to ensure that what happened at Tottenham is never repeated – for anyone.
You can view Cross’ comments below, via @footballdaily on Twitter/X:
🗣️ “The other thing that struck me through this was when we initially heard the recording of the Luis Diaz VAR room was the sheer chaos in the control room. I just don’t know how they came to a decision.” @johncrossmirror says VAR need to be more professional. 💭 pic.twitter.com/OUDGcKsb7w
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 11, 2023