Jamie Carragher Issues Strong Verdict On ‘Horrendous’ VAR Mistake

Jamie Carragher has issued his verdict on the VAR mistake that cost Liverpool a goal against Tottenham on Saturday.

Fans of all allegiances were left rather baffled by the decision to chalk off Luis Diaz’s strike for the Reds against Spurs on Saturday evening, with the linesman pitchside flagging for offside, only for screens in the VAR room to reveal clearly he was onside.

However, a miscommunication meant that the offside ruling was kept with, and Spurs got away without conceding, going on to win the game late on via a Joel Matip own goal.

Jamie Carragher comments on VAR debacle in Spurs v Liverpool

As one of the most prominent pundits in the UK, Carragher was naturally asked for his thoughts on the situation when appearing on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football programme, as Fulham faced Chelsea at Craven Cottage.

Not shy to say what he thinks, the former Liverpool defender had this to say:

“The bit where I’m really struggling is that they must know within two seconds because Tottenham have taken a free-kick, they haven’t kicked off.

“I’d be screaming at the referee that a mistake has been made but maybe they’re saying they have to wait until the ball goes out of play. They’re saying they stayed with protocol, that they’re not allowed to stop it but I don’t believe that. They panicked, they froze.

“I know that’s the rule but that’s a red-tape rule. If they had reversed it, we’d have been praising their leadership.

“There’s talk that the officials didn’t know until half-time that a mistake had been made but when that ball goes out of play [after the incident] the look on that referee’s face… it’s a look of something has gone wrong.”

Calls for VAR audio to be released

Carragher has also joined calls for the VAR audio from the incident to be released to the public:

“The only way Howard Webb and PGMOL will gain any sort of credibility back is to get it out there.

“I think it’s unbelievable that all the parties involved haven’t released the audio. I find it unfathomable.

“I don’t want to pile into the officials or Howard Webb – they must feel awful. I’m not into the conspiracy theories – no one gains anything from this.

“We’ve all made mistakes. But this is a horrendous mistake, unprecedented.”