Liverpool FC Team Talk, Gossip, Rumours 2024/25

Vicxas

England and Cook have been removed from future Premier League fixtures

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx2lCvRM_lr/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Riesen_Meal

https://www.uaeproleague.ae/en/fixtures/d5f295d8-0f45-11ee-afb1-d481d7b85086

Very strange they were all refereeing a match in Dubai only 2 day's before yesterday's match isn't it?

Not a conspiracy theorist but that's just a bit odd

To confirm; all three English officials in the ADNOC Pro League match were involved in the Premier League match of Spurs vs Liverpool.

Sharjah vs Al Ain match:

Referee: Michael Oliver. Assistant Daniel Cook. VAR: Darren England

Spurs vs Liverpool match:

Referee: Simon Hooper. Assistants: Adrian Holmes, Simon Long. Fourth official: Michael Oliver. VAR: Darren England. Assistant VAR: Dan Cook.

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121179814#Comment_121179814

No, they don't. This is square incompetence around the EPL implementation of VAR.

ConcertKing

Must laugh at the Spurs fans and team celebrating like they won a Champions League Final against us like we did when we beat them 2-0 which was so,so sweet.

All joking aside I was really surprised by how poor Spurs were.They were absolutely terrible.Even with 10 men I fully expected us to win.

Very proud of how we fought and just a pity Nunez wasn't fully match fit as I felt we really missed his pace.

ratracer

Taking all the refereeing debacle away, I thought the team looked super yesterday. Defensively, it was good to see VVD have a solid game, Matip too ( bay the unfortunate error).

Allison is just phenomenal!!

I was surprised to see Jota come on, would have preferred Nunez at the time, thought it would have given more options to have Salah and Nunez on, also Endo for Diaz at H/T, and I think that team could have won the game, even with 10 men.

On the positive, City are the only team we need to keep pace with, so we lost no ground to them yesterday thankfully.

Luxembourgo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121180325#Comment_121180325

They'll be back...

Soups123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121180378#Comment_121180378

People would be mad to think there isn’t stuff going on. Not specifically calling out yesterday but VAR open a the game up to more corruption than the pre Var

Money is a wash in the game, a lot of Saudi money no way it stops at transfers.

Yesterday is the worst I’ve ever seen, two Reds that never should have been and the explanation for the goal mistake is bullshit.

Ever since that handball not given against Rodri for you lads to win the league there have been so many more that all fall in one favour

mosstin

We've become a little Richard Keysesque here policing the Spurs celebrations post-match. Fully entitled to - knew they got out of jail after looking clueless trying to break down a really well organised 9 man Liverpool. They celebrated similarly against Sheffield United recently. Don't understand why anyone could ever object to celebrations. The season will catch up with Spurs yet though, no doubt about that.

Electric Nitwit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121180378#Comment_121180378

I'm also not buying a conspiracy, I think it's absolute ineptitude rather than corruption, but traveling across timezones so close to working a job that requires focus and judgement certainly seems very unprofessional

Riesen_Meal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121180782#Comment_121180782

I've been to Dubai once, it's a 9 hour flight, and you do be in a heap with jetlag after it

I totally agree with you

Osmosis Jones

It's no grand conspiracy but surely there is a conflict of interest in a referee potentially jeopardising his performance at the weekend because he was paid by the owners of another Premier League team to go ref a match halfway around the world 48 hours prior.

brevity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121180378#Comment_121180378

Would love MNF to call this out. Don't go over the top on it, just drop it in like a hand grenade and let it go off all on its own.

I am not sure what the rules are for refs when doing these extra curricular adventures but it doesn't sit right with me.

Like are they paid extra for this? Who pays them? Is there any link between who pays them and the owners of clubs in the PL?

Feels like a massive conflict of interest to me.

Enzokk

I don't think there is anything in the fact that they went to the UAE to referee a match 48 hours before this one, at least not when it comes to Abu Dhabi and the Man City connection and possible envelopes full of cash. I do think it is absurd that they were allowed to do this. Even if they were flying in business class, first class or a private jet, if they did not sleep well on the flight back they would have not been at their best for the next couple of days. Then they miss something that seems to obvious to us but if you are tired because you did not sleep well on Thursday night as you were on a flight and then had a full day Friday, that makes sense that this would happen. Absurd and ridiculous, but you can understand how this idiocy happened.

That is another question that needs to be answered, on top of the questions of the performance on the day itself of the referee. How did Spurs get every 50/50 seemingly in the match? We can debate the first red all day, but the Jota yellows both were so soft it is not even funny. There was no intent on the first one to run across him and take him out. You know when a player does that, or if it was it was a poor attempt by Jota as he hardly touched him. You would think you would take out the player with more intent if it was intentional. The second one looked way worse again than it was, the Spurs player initiated what very little contact there was and went over dramatically. What about that corner that was given when it was obvious the ball came off the Spurs man? Like I said, every 50/50 went one way only and that is just weird.

BorneTobyWilde

I dunno how the excuse of '' we thought goal was allowed'' holds water, when all the info during the game suggested it was offside, and getting checked. Who is responsible for putting that up on the big screen? Is that controlled by VAR, or broadcaster .

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121180615#Comment_121180615

Celebrate away

It's the defending of the decisions that I don't understand

BorneTobyWilde

Saudi are now going to poach all PL refs, they're welcome to them !

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/saudi-pro-league-referee-wages-31060954

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QzXvjDV2E4

I dunno why no one is questioning the excuse, instead they're eating it up, and slagging the mistake, but what if it wasn't a mistake

BorneTobyWilde

On Romero's celebratory Instagram post, Mac Allister raged in a now deleted comment: "Normal when you have 12 men." Romero was quick to respond and wrote back: "Cry at home."

BorneTobyWilde

On Romero's celebratory instagram post, Mac Allister raged in a now deleted comment: "Normal when you have 12 men." Romero was quick to respond and wrote back: "Cry at home."

. More like 16 men

citytillidie

Why wasn't the ref called over to have a look at this that actually injured a player?

WealthyB

So now we're expected to believe that 3 officials, who were guests of the owners of Man City only three days earlier were fatigued to the point that all three referees stopped watching the game at the exact same time, which just so happened to coincide with a crucial incident in the game that would have turned the entire match.

Really? Is that where we really are on this? The dog ate my homework Sir?

Yesterday was match-fixing in plain sight. Plain and simple. Our eyes didn't deceive. It wasn't just one decision, the entire game was reffed to ensure Spurs didn't lose. From Jones' red card and how VAR framed it for the Ref, to the 40 second Diaz offside decision with no lines drawn, Van De Ven kicking through Gomez in the box, Jota's first yellow as Udogie trips over himself... and countless other little decisions such as the ignoring of Udogie gesticulating for a card while already on a yellow himself, the cards for Robertson and Salah, playing advantage but then pulling it back for a foul on the halfway line after Salah wins a corner..

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. How many fools of us all did PGMOL make yesterday?

And sports journalists and commentators don't dare call this out for what it is - I'll say it again, match-fixing in plain sight - because mark my words, if one did, they'd find themselves quickly sanctioned, ostracised, and most likely left without a career.

But you can bet, in hushed tones, and in dressing rooms, and to their mates away from social media etc, players and those in the game are all saying it. They all saw what we saw. They're not the brightest bunch some, but they're not stupid or naive beyond belief.

But instead, the journos and commentators have already accepted and are now debating the nonsense excuses from PGMOL, giving them a pass for "working under pressure" and empathising with them, pretending that being tired means you're incapable of watching a football match, forgetting it's their actual job; and instead, they'll treat the corrupt officials like a fella that wandered out of the Ministry Of Sound at 7am after an all-nighter on the yokes. And yet I've been that very guy, and I could still fooking tell from squinting at the telly in a bar in Elephant and Castle if a goal had stood or been disallowed.

facehugger99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121181628#Comment_121181628

Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121181700#Comment_121181700

Yeah - I'd believe the jetlag before I believe the conspiracy.

I wonder if anyone's touted the idea of relieving PGMOL of VAR and getting foreign refs in to do it? Doesn't seem to be anywhere near as many issues abroad.

One of the best things about European competitions is the fact that we can't get English refs.

facehugger99

I’ve read a few comments about Jota getting a yellow because Udogie ‘trips over himself’. That’s bollox though, you can clearly see on the replay that Jota catches him initially which causes him to trip over himself.

you could argue the yellow was harsh but it stopped a Spurs break and I wasn’t at all surprised by it.

Really stupid of Jota to then jump into a challenge 90 seconds later. Way more blame rests with him than the ref for the red.

I think with 10 men, we’d have won yesterday too.

bdmc16

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121181781#Comment_121181781

The player takes a full stride after passing jota and catching his own leg and trips himself up. Did you watch the game ..they slow mo'ed it Jota didn't even attempt in any way to impede him or touch him.

steinbock123

Well can I try and put a positive view here? If we’d won that game, as we should have and indeed deserved to, we’d be top of the league table today. What I love about this years side is that they’re not like last years. They can still concede early doors, but this year they’re coming back to win.

Fupp Spurs, they will do a Spurs sooner or later , as they always do.

City slipped up yesterday, and believe me, they’ll slip up again.

And I genuinely believe, that if we don’t get any muppet refereeing decisions like we did yesterday , that we’re capable of beating them home and away this year.

In Klopp we trust, YNWA’

Utopia Parkway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121181781#Comment_121181781

Jota was just running behind Udogie. Made no attempt to tackle him. Udogie actually caught him with his own trailing foot. Even if you call it a foul it was not even distantly related to a yellow card.

happyoutscan

I don't buy into the conspiracy theory at all.

I just think that stupidity and arrogance is an awful mixture and it is a common trait of many of the officials we see.

They have no real leadership - Howard Webb ffs - and they are in no way held accountable for their awful incompetence.

It's not rocket science. The technology is there. The braincells aren't.

How can rugby get it so right (in most cases) while football so wrong? Perhaps because one game is littered with awful sportsmanship - diving, feigning injury, cheating, time-wasting etc - while one is built on respect (I'm no rugby head btw).

Bit of a rant.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121181864#Comment_121181864

It's because rugby is run by referees who know the rules and pay attention to what's going on.

Ken Tucky

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121181575#Comment_121181575

I remember that incident. The spurs player in fairness did stumble and his movement brought him into our player.. one of those that can be nasty but there was no malice in it.

Regardless, if he had of meant it nothing would have happened with those officials

Pepp1989

There is no appetite to clean up the game though. The tech is there to do it almost overnight. On game reviews, attribute a yellow card to the spurs lb for calling for a card. If he did it while on a yellow, then he now serves a game ban. Will he call for another yellow again? Unlikely. Then it's out of the game quickly.

If they want to stop diving, then one match ban if found to have dived on review. Would stop overnight.

There is no appetite whatsoever to stop it. Think of the traffic the absolute cock up yesterday will have generated already and continue to do so. Creates content

Pepp1989

And if you want to improve VAR then it's open dialogue between the ref and VAR a la rugby and those comms are broadcast.

citytillidie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182007#Comment_121182007

He didn't stumble he slid in made some contact with the ball but still went on to injure Gakpo

https://twitter.com/LIV_ssalty/status/1708504778089869604

facehugger99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121181807#Comment_121181807

Yeah, I watched the game. Also watched the slow motion replay. Jota catches Udogies heel with his knee. It's 100% what causes him to trip.

I suggest you rewatch it again.

BorneTobyWilde

The actual still of the tackle, not the hyped up still they showed the ref.

BorneTobyWilde

One thing I did learn last night, this team is for real, and we are title contenders.

noodler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182095#Comment_121182095

I'm not being funny I cannot see this on the replay and the distance/time when contact could have taken place and when his own legs did tangle was longer than you'd expect.

Maybe there's an angle I didn't see but I find it irrelevant because Jota knew he was booked when he went to ground.

Electric Nitwit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182124#Comment_121182124

I think Jota's knee did make slight contact and that was enough to cause the self-trip, like a rugby tap tackle

But it was 100% accidental and never a yellow

That said, I wouldn't argue that too much as it's just a yellow. What Jota did two minutes later was stupid. Yes it was a borderline dive, but you don't give a ref any reason to think about a second yellow when you've just had one

It's not clear, but I think you can see sought contact in this angle...

https://twitter.com/Silky_Salah/status/1708368527550194107?t=tfRqPZ6BGEWVAkrSASiqeg&s=19

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182095#Comment_121182095

That's not a foul. Jota's simply running and Udogie kicks back into him. It's allowed for players to touch each other. Not a foul, and absolutely not a yellow.

facehugger99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182160#Comment_121182160

It is a foul.

You’re not allowed to trip a player that’s breaking towards your goal and claim the contact was accidental.

Saying ‘it’s allowed for players to touch each other’ is a bit strawmaney TBH, nobody said they weren’t.

citytillidie

Liverpool Statement - https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/liverpool-fc-statement-5

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.

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.

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.

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.

Electric Nitwit

Liverpool statement

https://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/liverpool-fc-statement-5

I do like them saying "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."

mada999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182139#Comment_121182139

To be totally honest when I seen it and then the reply from the wider angle, I dont think the ref actually seen the incident, from what I remember there could have been a couple of players in the way and the just caved to the crowd and the spurs players reactions afterwards.... I must check it out again...

theoneeyedman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121180615#Comment_121180615

Yea I agree.

I recall us 'celebrating'a 00 draw against West Brom back in the day, teams can feed off results like late wins for their own reasons, so let them off and if it works out for them let them off, we ought not to worry about

citytillidie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182194#Comment_121182194

Minimal contact two players running close by at most it is a free kick but its never a yellow card

brevity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182194#Comment_121182194

I don’t think he tripped him though. The reply shows he didn’t touch him.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182194#Comment_121182194

Exept he didn't trip him and claim it was accidental - what minimal contact there was, was clearly driven by Udogie. Jota is just running normally in stride and Udogie kicks back into him in his own stride when he runs across him. There was clearly zero change of motion to trip or any intent at all from Jota to make contact.

It was only given as a foul/yellow because in real time the ref thought the second contact was Jota's foot, rather than Udogie's own foot.

mosstin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182235#Comment_121182235

Strong statement alright but unlikely to change anything at PGMOL. Might at least do something to make yesterday's audio available for the offside decision although I doubt it. It's just not good enough that PGMOL get away with this week after week and then don't have to explain themselves in full. Yesterday's statement by them wasn't an attempt to clarify, it was designed to obfuscate. Let's see where they go now.

If anything it'll put pressure on them to avoid more mistakes.

Serious lack of transparency though. I mean, what's there to hide? This should be simple to implement.

There's a well oiled process in Rugby that can be followed. There's no confusion. Fully transparent.

mada999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121182194#Comment_121182194

it is a not a foul.... the Spurs player actually tripped himself... Jota did not make any trip "movement" at all he was running in a stride ffs...