Liverpool were denied a win by an awful decision but it wasn’t VAR

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Liverpool have had another tough, controversial weekend. The Reds were held to a draw by Brighton at the Amex Stadium on Saturday. Many have complained about the officials after the game. Liverpool were denied a win by an awful decision but it wasn’t VAR. Liverpool were denied a win by the decision not to allow five subs.

Liverpool held at Brighton

The Reds will be eager to forget this weekend’s trip to the Amex Stadium.

Liverpool dominated the game throughout but were largely toothless in possession.

Moments of brilliance popped up sporadically. After an hour the deadlock was broken by Diogo Jota’s mastery after he dribbled past a couple of defenders before firing into the bottom corner.

The game appeared dead and buried when Sadio Mane headed home but the effort was ruled out for offside.

In the dying minutes the hosts were awarded a penalty which was converted into a late equaliser.

Liverpool and VAR

Many fans are furious about VAR and the way it is being used.

Yet again this weekend the assistant meddled with the on field decision and yet again Liverpool fell foul to the intervention.

In the first half the Reds saw a Mo Salah goal ruled out with the Egyptian King a few centimeters offside.

The second half saw Sadio Mane’s effort chalked off with the winger more convincingly beyond the last man.

The late penalty decision was the most controversial because of how innocuous the incident appeared in real time.

Fans have protested that the use of slo-mo replays is unfair.

There have also been arguments against games being re-refereed by video assistants.

The crux of the matter is that if the VAR wanted to he could comb through the entire game in slow-mo and give a number of decisions that were deemed fair in real time and on the field.

Despite this pedantic and frustrating yet technically fair decision, it wasn’t VAR which cost Liverpool the win at the weekend.

Liverpool cost win by 5 subs law

Liverpool finished the game with Curtis Jones at right back.

Meanwhile, Andy Robertson was knackered at left back.

However, the boss was left hamstrung. Jones had to come with James Milner injured, he was left with no other substitutes after this.

The limit of three subs impacted the Reds in two ways: the law contributed to James Milner’s injury (along with TV scheduling) and it prevented the boss from making further necessary subs.

Jürgen Klopp said after the game that he wanted to take Robbo off for Kostas Tsimikas.

Had we not had a knackered full back out there then we wouldn’t have been as vulnerable.

There is also the consideration that the player’s fatigue impacted his decision making.

Furthermore having a makeshift full back on the other side allowed the opposition to create more chances.

Footballers are being run into the ground at the moment and unless scheduling and substitute laws are amended we will continue to see game changing injuries and poor footballing spectacles.