Liverpool suffered the most VAR errors of any Premier League team in the 2023/24 season. Football boss Tony Scholes said the review was “taking too long” and “impacted on the flow of the game”, amid growing complaints about the quality of refereeing.
Big incidents involving Jurgen Klopp’s side are one of the main reasons why the VAR process is taking longer this season. Protocols were updated following Luis Diaz’s goal against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season. The referees found the “Liverpool” striker offside. Afterwards, the VAR quickly realized it was a relatively simple decision, but mistakenly confirmed that “the review has been completed” without asking the referee to overturn the original decision. “We don’t want to compromise accuracy,”
Scholes said. “But decision-making time has increased this season, and that has been accompanied by increased scrutiny of VAR as a result of a number of critical decisions. “I understand because it takes more to check, but through training and development, we want them to be able to focus on making decisions based on the facts they see, so they don’t have to check or triple check times.”The VAR system made a total of 20 errors in the 2023/24 season.
Of those errors, 17 were missed tackles, two were bad decisions and one was when VAR did not correctly allow a reversal after an on-field review. ESPN have since revealed that Liverpool have suffered the most VAR errors this season, with four decisions given to manager Jurgen Klopp’s side.That is ahead of Brighton and Wolves, who have committed three fouls each, and title rivals Arsenal, who have committed two fouls. At the other end of the spectrum, Aston Villa suffered three VAR errors.
Scholes added about the VAR error: “Obviously not everything is perfect in the VAR world. We know this and we know it’s work.”We do too many checks and it takes too much time. Given the level of control these people have, this is somewhat understandable. However, the revision takes too long and affects the game. We recognize this fact and the need to improve speed while maintaining accuracy.”
