21 Oct 2019 07:15:08
I think yesterday’s match was probably the worst I’ve seen Liverpool play in over a year but it didn’t help that the officials were awful. Martin Atkinson is one of the most experienced referees in the premier league but yesterday was one of the worst refereeing performances I’ve ever seen.

What is the point of VAR if the officials watching the screens are not going to overrule the referee?! If it’s a case of disagreement between the ref and VAR officials, give the referee a screen to view at the side of the pitch like they had in the World Cup! The foul on origi looked absolutely blatant in real time and on viewing the replay there was nothing to change my mind so I have no idea what those idiots in the VAR room were watching!

Also, as bad as Liverpool played, I don’t understand all the pundits praise for the United performance! They played exactly the same way the play against us every season, 11 men behind the ball and pump it up to rashford and now James aswell. There was nothing new or special about their performance, in fact, it was this type of performance Mourinho was slated for!

All in all, can’t really complain with a draw as it wasn’t the greatest game of football but barring some awful officiating, we could have had all 3 points! And before people start accusing me of bias, Mane’s goal was rightly ruled out given the new handball law. So In my eyes, we were the only team to score a legitimate goal yesterday as Mane and Rashfords goals should have been ruled out!

Anyway, still unbeaten and 6 points clear! YNWA!


1.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 08:00:17
Just to go against the status quo. I didn't think it was a foul on Origi in the build up to their goal, he took a bad touch and had lost control of the ball.

We were poor all day, I think a big part of it was that Salah was out, but hey no excuses. We got a point maybe a point more than we deserved bad we are still undefeated. Let's move on to the next game and focus on staying unbeaten.


2.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 08:14:54
It was a foul. Clearly a foul.

{Ed025's Note - it certainly was denzil..


3.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 08:46:00
Poor touch or not, lindelof has come through the back of origi and made contact, he was late with the challenge and it is a foul! I lost count of how many fouls Atkinson awarded UTD in the first half for minimal contact! He was absolutely useless all game!


4.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 08:49:47
It was a tackle from behind Bmena. He got none of the ball and all of the man. Those tackles were outlawed 30 years ago mate. 100% foul all day long. If the ref thought there was no contact then fair enough but that where VAR should correct him and the goal be ruled out. To go with the ref regardless is at best inept and at worst corrupt.


5.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 09:53:19
I just wish he was consistent. First half felt like 2 different guys where making the calls depending on the colour of the shirt.


6.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 10:36:12
Even if the ref had the greatest performance of his career yesterday it wouldn't hide the fact that we were very poor. It looked like we had run out of ideas without actually having any in the first place. We only played with any intensity and ambition after Lallana's goal.

{Ed025's Note - thats a fair point JK, that was not the liverpool i know out there yesterday, it was slow and looked like playing not to lose rather than win from the get go mate..


7.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 11:45:26
I just wish Jurgen would stop getting worked up in games like these. He seems to spend a long time complaining to the 4th official instead of keeping his cool and watching the game to work out a solution, and this then infects the players.
Why argue for ages with the 4th official? It's not like the decision is going to be changed.

I also thought the ref being ridiculously one sided was a thing of the past, but I was wrong.

{Ed025's Note - i dont think atkinson was biased polecat just inept, he missed some big decisions and thats where VAR could help, instead it serves to protect the referee from criticism and thats why its just not working mate..


8.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 12:34:31
Bmena, so you are saying that cos Origi lost his touch (debatable) while being clearly kicked by Lindelof, that negates the fact that he was fouled? That makes no sense IMO, man. It was a foul and VAR messed it up due to the rule Ed25 has alluded to which is criminal in itself cos it is there to protect the ref from having to bear the brunt of his own failings.

Now did we play our best? No and that can happen. Utd parked the bus and closed the spaces so they did that very well. I'm not going to sit here and start saying it was our worst perf. since x time cos we have played WAY worse than this. We are 6 points up and top of the PL. The only LFC fans crying and acting like children are IMO, the spoiled brats who thought we were going to walk this game, as if we have ever walked a game at OT in the past. As for the ref? There is a reason why NO PL refs are ever at the WC. They are useless and and based on what I saw, he was assisting utd in his ineptitude.

{Ed025's Note - yeah atkinson was a disgrace redwolf, just as much as VAR is which is why it should be suspended until some clear rules are sorted out and its implemented properly..


9.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 12:48:45
Am with you on that eds25.


10.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 12:49:30
They have backed themselves into a corner on VAR the bar has been set ridiculously high for overturning referees dicisions and I can't see them changing tack part way through the season. It will be left till the summer for them to reassess so I guess we have to hope that we don't fall foul of it too much in the meantime.

{Ed025's Note - there is a meeting on wednesday to discuss the issues i believe Den..


11.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 13:02:59
I just checked Companies House and Pep Ferguson Officiating Limited is a legitimate company!


12.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 13:17:59
That’s exactly my point re VAR Ed025. VAR was brought in to eradicate refereeing mistakes but the officials seem to be dead against contradicting the referee. I’ve just watched dermot Gallagher on sky sports saying it was atkinsons decision because VAR couldn’t overrule it because it wasn’t ‘clear and obvious’! For one, it was clear and obvious because it was a foul and the referee missed it and secondly, if it’s debatable, tell the ref to go and have a look at a monitor himself and see all the angles, then make a decision. So far this season, it’s been an absolute farce!

{Ed025's Note - your spot on JK..


13.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 16:43:20
Suspending VAR until it is reviewed and corrected is the smartest idea I have read on here in a long time. It was supposed to be a tool to reduce controversy. It does only the opposite .

{Ed025's Note - your right ArAy, we seem to be discussing VAR more than the actual football mate, and that cant be good..


14.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 19:01:28
ArAy1969, VAR can actually work if it was actually put in place to fix what is broken, in good faith. The prob here is that there are bad faith actors who are implementing a system where by teams get penalized AFTER VAR is actually used. If not, how does one explain how the ref should NOT be overruled whereas the goal of VAR as they told us, was to eradicate human errors hence, the errors of a human being who is the ref.

They say the ref cannot be overruled. So why do you have VAR then? So what happens when he makes a blatant mistake? Well, they say say it is not "a clear an obv. mistake" which is code for protecting the ref's blatant incompetence. Therefore in essence under the VAR system in England, we have TWO referees in every game. We have the ref at the center of the pitch and we have VAR to intervene in certain areas (red card challenges, offsides etc) to overrule the ref while in other situations, the ref has the final say even tho, he is not allowed to go check the monitor to see the incident. Brilliant!


15.) 21 Oct 2019
21 Oct 2019 21:20:38
Redwolf, I had a brief discussion on this same point with Ed001, on here, recently. And we both concluded that the authorities were wary of reducing the power of the refs, therefore limiting the effectiveness of VAR. Sounds so much like introducing something with the implicit objective of having it fail. But it's fooling no one. I highly doubt this is the final word on the VAR issue. It will have to be adjusted so that it does end up being a tool that overrules the ref. on the field. It's done in rugby with great success; no reason it can't be done in football.