Come to think of it, that's their fans main chant. Now we know why...

Dermot Gallagher's opinion on Sky Watch posted here argues that a subjective decision was made on Firmino's impact on interfering with the game.

Fair enough, most of life can be subjective. But if the VAR controller subjectively thinks that if Firmino wasn't standing in the six yard box waiting for a cross to attack Mitchell would still be standing there on his own like a lemon instead of back-tracking to Oxlade Chamblerain behind him, then they should be sacked.

To be fair to Friend:
- He couldn't do anything about the offside because the linesman didn't flag it and Pawson didn't call it.
- Re the penalty, he made the right decision initially, but then, as has been subsequently, revealed, once he was called by Pawson to review it he was REQUIRED by the new VAR rules handed down by the powers to be to go with the reviewer, Pawson. I do wonder whether he really believed it was a penalty but simply went with the VAR flow so as not to risk being reprimanded by his bosses.

Having said that, his early warning to Gallagher (first tackle in first minute), his reluctance to punish Liverpool fouls and his response to the Olise injury do leave a bad taste in the mouth.

All-in-all it was an awful all round performance by the match officials - the worst I've ever seen, in fact.

Edited by doombear (28 Jan 2022 12.58pm)

VAR = Video Assistant Referee…who was Pawson, so VAR did get the decision wrong.

VAR is just awful, hasn’t eradicated bad decisions and is killing the game in terms of excitement, euphoria, atmosphere and enjoyment. The whole system / process in its current form is just suffocating the game.

Edited by Phil’s Barber (28 Jan 2022 3.15pm)

If that was the case it suggests Pawson was going looking for something rather than it be a clear and obvious error by the referee.

As I've said before, we used to accept that bad refereeing decisions would even themselves out over the course of the season. I now feel that's the case with VAR

I see yur point, but another team and set of fans will be aggrieved by the ineptitude of the officials. I was under the impression that VAR was to be used to make the correct call, obviously not - whoever the VAR official is has complete power over the entire game, more so than the ref on the pitch...