England boss Gareth Southgate says he doesn't like VAR and would prefer to accept referees' decisions
England boss Gareth Southgate on VAR: "I don't like it. I think we should just accept referees' decisions, but I also know that we're unlikely to go back to a world where we don't have technology as part of that decision-making process."
Thursday 5 October 2023 18:39, UK
England manager Gareth Southgate has weighed into the VAR debate by saying he does not like the technology and would prefer to accept on-pitch referees' decisions.
VAR has come under intense scrutiny after officials failed to overturn the decision to rule out Luis Diaz's goal for Liverpool against Tottenham on Saturday, despite finding him to be onside.
The error, by VAR Darren England and assistant Dan Cook, prompted a major fallout, with PGMOL apologising to Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp calling for the game to be replayed, an outcome Sky Sports News understands to be highly unlikely.
Southgate was asked for his views at his press conference on Thursday and insisted he was never in favour of the technology's introduction, adding that his doubts were confirmed by the dubious offside call that saw a Jesse Lingard goal ruled out in England's UEFA Nations League semi-final loss to the Netherlands in 2019.
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"When you say I was at the forefront, I wasn't for it," he said.
"And my first experience of it... we're still not sure if the Jesse Lingard goal that knocked us out of a semi-final was legit or not.
"I don't like it. I think we should just accept referees' decisions, but I also know that we're unlikely to go back to a world where we don't have technology as part of that decision-making process.
"It was never going to resolve every issue and I don't think there is any solution that will achieve that."
Southgate was speaking after naming his squad for England's upcoming internationals against Italy and Australia, his 26-man group featuring Bukayo Saka despite his apparent injury and including recalls for Ollie Watkins and Jarrod Bowen.
Klopp calls for Spurs-Liverpool replay
Jurgen Klopp has called for Liverpool's match against Tottenham to be replayed after the VAR failed to award Luis Diaz's goal which was ruled out for offside.
Klopp said: "It's really important that as big as football is and important as football is we deal with it in a proper way.
"All the people involved, the on-field referee, linesman, fourth official and especially in this case VAR, didn't do that on purpose. It was an obvious mistake and I think there would have been solutions for it afterwards.
"Some people probably don't want me to say, but not as the manager of Liverpool so much, more as a football person, the only outcome should be a replay. That's how it is. It probably will not happen."
Klopp added: "The argument against [a replay] will probably be if we open that gate then everybody will ask for it. The situation is so unprecedented that I'm 56 years old and I'm absolutely used to wrong decisions, difficult decisions but something like that as far as I can remember never happened.
"That's why I think a replay would be the right thing. If it happened again, a replay would be the right thing to do or the referee has the opportunity to bring both coaches together and say, 'Sorry we made a mistake but we can solve it. Let Liverpool score a goal and we can start from there.'"
Ref Watch: One question would have prevented terrible mistake
Analysing the incident in Ref Watch on Sky Sports News, former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher said: "It was a terrible mistake to make. Everyone has acknowledged that, we have all acknowledged that. It's the biggest talking point of the season, let alone this weekend.
"It's now about the process and one of the processes is they will have to undertake from now is the VAR will have to ask the referee: 'what is the on-field decision?'
"If that little question had been asked and [Simon Hooper] said "offside" then you've got a starting point. Then you can go forward. Unfortunately, because that question wasn't asked, they were under the impression the goal had been given on the field and that's how everything unfolded.
"It might seem like a trivial question, but that simple question would have alleviated all that went on next. If I said to you, 'what's the on-field decision?' You would tell me it was offside.
"I could then look and say, 'I'm checking for offside'. He didn't check for offside. What he was checking was if the player was not offside."
