Jurgen Klopp’s calls for replaying Liverpool’s clash with Tottenham felt significant as the Reds boss demands change and ‘solutions’ in the way officials work after VAR debacle

• Liverpool saw Luis Diaz have a goal ruled out against Tottenham after a VAR error
• Reds boss Jurgen Klopp called for the game to be replayed due to the mistake
• Click HERE to listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s ‘It’s All Kicking Off’

It took one minute and 16 seconds of the first answer in Jurgen Klopp’s press conference for the word ‘replay’ to come up. There have been murmurs all week about Liverpool wanting the match to happen again, and strong statements from the club, but Klopp saying it felt significant.

It felt significant because it underlines the gravity of the monumental injustice Liverpool were served on Saturday, when Luis Diaz’s perfectly legal goal was wrongly disallowed, and it shows the seriousness of the Reds’ search for answers in their ‘escalation and resolution’.

The Liverpool boss, calm and measured, was keen to stress that the refereeing team made a human error and he did not mention any of them by name. But he was clear in what he wanted: change. Klopp’s buzzword was ‘solutions’.

‘We need to deal with it in a proper way. All of the people involved, they did not do it on purpose. It was a mistake, an obvious mistake. I think there would have been solutions for it.

‘Not as the manager of Liverpool, but more as a football person, the only outcome should be a replay. That’s how it is, probably won’t happen. The argument against that will be if we open that gate everyone will ask for it, but the situation is so unprecedented.

Jurgen Klopp has called for Liverpool’s match with Tottenham to be replayed following VAR’s ‘significant error’ in disallowing Luis Diaz’s strike during Saturday’s 2-1 away defeat

Darren England – who was on VAR – wrongly believed the on-field decision to be ‘goal’, meaning he said the check was complete, despite the Colombian forward being clearly onside

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‘It has not happened before. I am 52 years old, I am used to making wrong decisions but something like this, as far as I can remember, has never happened. That’s why the replay would be the right thing to do.

‘Or the referee brings both coaches together (during the match) and says, “We made a mistake, let Liverpool score a goal and we start from there”. The worst thing is we conceded two minutes after we scored a good goal.

‘It’s not only the respect, you should not go for human beings. They made a mistake and they have felt horrible I am 100 per cent sure. That’s enough for me. Nobody needs further punishment. We should discuss it on a normal basis without emotions.’ 

And that is what those inside the club have spent the week doing. In that strong statement on Sunday night, Liverpool vowed to ‘explore the range of options available’. Replaying the match has never been off the cards, despite the fact it is extremely unlikely the League would agree.

Klopp was asked at one point if the club would make a formal request for a replay, turned to the communications director and offered that the hierarchy are still weighing up paperwork and their options. They will of course also be consulting their legal team about what to do next.

So, do they have grounds for a replay? A top sports lawyer told Mail Sport that Liverpool could do so, and Premier League Rule L18 gives the League’s board the power to order a match to be replayed if an appointed commission recommends such action.

‘This means there is a possibility that Liverpool could put pressure on the Premier League board to convene a commission which would have the ability, among other possible outcomes, to implement a replay,’ says Stephen Taylor Heath, co-head of sports law at JMW Solicitors.

‘It could be argued that if the official had immediately been aware of an error and communicated that to players and staff, Tottenham’s manager could have allowed Liverpool to score a goal unchallenged.’ So asking for a commission to be formed could be one basis to follow.

But rules of IFAB, the international lawmakers, state a match is not invalidated because of VAR mistakes which include technology malfunctions, wrong decision(s) involving VAR officials or choosing to not review decisions.

Even if a replay is unrealistic justice, Klopp wants change to how officials work. ‘The wording “clear and obvious” (in terms of VAR decisions) is not the right wording. It’s about right or wrong. These things should not happen but it happened. That’s fine, learn off it, find a solution.’ Klopp admitted that many moaned at the length of time VAR decisions took when it was first implemented on these shores, but hinted that with a bit more time on Saturday, the right call might have been made.

He added: ‘The problems are sortable and we should create a situation where people can make their best decisions. If it happened again, I would say, “Replay!” – but better, sort in the moment with common sense. It’s not like a penalty, this is different. That goal was scored, legal, facts.’ 

Klopp pleaded for change to how officials work when implenting VAR and called for ‘solutions’

Klopp also revealed he had never seen anything like what went on against Spurs on Saturday

Mail Sport sources say that protocols will be revamped for VAR communication after the PGMOL’s report into the mess-up, but surely that will even further irk Klopp and Liverpool. How can an organisation of this size not double-check things?

Liverpool must move on quickly, with two matches in four days starting on Thursday at Anfield against Belgian leaders Union Saint-Gilloise, formerly owned by Brighton supremo Tony Bloom and starring Alexis Mac Allister’s brother Kevin. Yes, he is named after the Home Alone character.

Fit-again vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold said: ‘What happened at the weekend for us is very disappointing and frustrating. But it’s past us, there’s nothing we can do now, the game has gone – we have to move forward and put it past us.

‘Our motivation is that we have two games before the international break and we want to and need to win both of the games. It will be difficult but we feel we are capable. We are not shy of our ambitions. We want to win trophies, and we want to win the biggest trophies.’ 

LIVERPOOL v UNION SAINT-GILLOISE, ANFIELD 8pm, TNT SPORT 

PREDICTED XI – Kelleher; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Quansah, Tsimikas; Jones, Endo, Elliott; Doak, Nunez, Jota.

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