Gary Neville reacts strongly to Liverpool’s VAR statement following 2-1 defeat vs Tottenham | OneFootball

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Gary Neville has issued a strong response after Liverpool released an official statement complaining “sporting integrity had been undermined” by the high-profile VAR error that was made during Saturday night’s Premier League clash against Tottenham.

Liverpool forward Luis Diaz had a first-half goal wrongly disallowed following an unusually quick VAR check. Jurgen Klopp’s team, who were reduced to nine men during the match following red cards to Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota either side of half-time, went on to lose the game 2-1 after Joel Matip scored an unfortunate own goal in the dying seconds.

Shortly after full-time, PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) released a statement confirming the decision to disallow Diaz’s goal was incorrect, citing “significant human error” on their part. Later on Saturday night, it was revealed that the remarkable error was due to VAR Darren England misunderstanding the onfield decision.

VAR official England, along with his assistant Dan Cook, were subsequently stood down from duty and replaced for Nottingham Forest vs Brentford on Sunday, and Fulham vs Chelsea on Monday. However, Liverpool are demanding more answers from PGMOL and released a strongly-worded statement on Sunday night.

What did Liverpool say in their statement?

“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,” the statement read. “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.”

Gary Neville's strong response to Liverpool's statement

This, in turn, prompted a response from Sky Sports pundit Neville on X (formerly known as Twitter). The former Manchester United captain praised Klopp for his handling of the situation on Saturday, but accused Liverpool of using ‘dangerous, vague and aggressive’ phrases in their statement.

“Jurgen Klopp handled the situation well last night after the game,” Neville wrote. “Most football fans will have had empathy with what happened and recognised it was wrong!

“However Liverpool’s statement tonight is a mistake! Talk of exploring all options ( what does that mean!!! ) and sporting integrity are dangerous phrases along with being vague and aggressive. Sorry we f@@@@d up was enough!! I said this last night. Sorry should be respected and not undervalued. This is a snap reaction that can always be wrong but I feel strongly about it.”

When one fan responded that an apology wasn’t enough in this situation, and that repercussions were necessary, Neville responded: “What would you like mate? It’s a f@@k up! We’ve all done it.” The ex-England defender firmly believes that talk of potential sackings needs to stop.

Earlier on Sunday, Neville wrote on X: “The VAR mistake was a really bad one. However we’ve all been demanding quicker decisions and I think they have tried to enforce speed in decision making. Speed will cause inaccuracy and it’s now about a rebalance.

“The two officials have been taken off their next games. Imagine how they feel this morning and let’s be human. There should be consequence for such errors but in my opinion a couple of games out is more than enough. Think of it as a player suspension for a sending off. This isn’t a sackable offence by any stretch so let’s remove that language

“Sorry doesn’t mean anything. It does. It’s an important value all our parents have tried to instill in us. Taking responsibility and owning your mistakes is important and should be valued.”