Read more
Klopp wants Spurs v Liverpool replay after VAR blunder
"If a replay happens or not, it's just my opinion," says the German coach.
Liverpool’s German manager Jurgen Klopp reacts at the end of the English Premier League football match against Tottenham Hotspur at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on Saturday. – Tottenham Hotspur won 2 – 1 against Liverpool. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
Jurgen Klopp wants Liverpool‘s match at Tottenham to be replayed due to the VAR error that cost them an opening goal at the weekend.
ALSO READ: VAR officials stood down after Liverpool goal error
Spurs went on to win the Premier League game 2-1 as nine-man Liverpool’s unbeaten start to the season came to an end due to a 96th-minute own goal from Joel Matip.
The fallout from the VAR failure in Saturday’s defeat, in which officials wrongly disallowed Luis Diaz’s goal due to a misunderstanding over the on-field decision, is still being felt.
Referees body Professional Game Match Officials Ltd released a statement admitting a “significant human error”.
PGMOL released the audio conversation between the match officials after a request from Liverpool, but Klopp said that had made little difference to their thinking.
“The audio didn’t change it at all,” he told a press conference on Wednesday. “It is an obvious mistake. I think there should be solutions for that. I think the outcome should be a replay.
“The argument against that would be it opens the gates. It is unprecedented. It has not happened before.
“I’m used to wrong and difficult decisions, but something like this never happened and so that is why I think a replay is the right thing to do.”
Questioned over whether the club had asked or would formally ask the Premier League for a replay, Klopp added: “At this stage we are still going through the information we have.”
ALSO READ: Own goal seals Spurs win over Liverpool as refs admit ‘significant human error’
The German said it would have been much better to have corrected the mistake the moment it happened and he wants a protocol put in place to avoid similar problems happening again.
“If you have this situation first time, you try to understand, and try to find a solution, but that doesn’t solve the problem. How can we sort not just for the future, but this situation?” he added.
“If that would happen again, I would say replay. Or much, much better than a replay — sort it in that moment. Common sense.
“If a replay happens or not, it’s just my opinion.”
