Jürgen Klopp has said he would scrap video assistant referees for the simple reason that Professional Game Match Officials Ltd is “not able to use it properly”.
The Liverpool manager gave a damning assessment of the referees’ body at his final pre-match press conference, when asked whether he would vote to keep or scrap VAR at next month’s Premier League annual general meeting. Liverpool are understood to be in favour of retaining VAR but their outgoing manager has a differing view owing to how it has been implemented in the Premier League.
“I don’t think they are voting against VAR,” he said. “I think they are voting against how VAR gets used because that is definitely not right. In the way they do it, I would vote against it because these people are not able to use it properly. I don’t think VAR is the problem but the way they use it is the problem. You cannot change the people obviously, that is clear, so I would say I would vote for scrapping VAR.”
Liverpool were on the receiving end of this season’s biggest VAR controversy when having a legitimate goal disallowed in September’s 2-1 defeat at Tottenham. Klopp believes his final opponents, Wolves, who submitted the resolution calling for VAR to be abolished, are more deserving of sympathy having suffered from several bad calls.
Klopp said: “They are the most unlucky team I ever saw with VAR decisions. They were crazy against Wolves. We had a few strange ones but they are the champions of that. Unbelievable. They will be strong [on Sunday] and they want to finish on a high. We will prepare as strongly as possible.
“I was never the part that disturbed a good game before, but this time I will probably be the one. Standing there and pretending it will be a completely normal game, no one would believe me. It is a challenge for different reasons and I hope we can all put a really good performance on the pitch. It is much easier to celebrate afterwards if you saw a good game before.”
Klopp admits it will be “tough” to manage at Anfield for the final time, and he may be unable to deliver the pre-match team talk. He has declined a request from the film crew documenting his final season to record his pre-Wolves speech.
First press conference, October 2015 “I heard from my agent that Liverpool is interested and I felt immediately: ‘Oh God.' It’s like when I met my wife – I saw her and thought: 'OK, I marry her.' And it was like that with the club. It felt right from the first moment.”
On Anfield, May 2018 “If you had Wikipedia or Google and put in ‘European nights’ the answer must be: Anfield.”
After historic comeback against Barcelona, May 2019 “I said to the boys: ‘I think it’s impossible but because it’s you we have a chance.’ And we believed in this chance. I don’t know how the boys did it. These boys are fucking mentality giants – it’s unbelievable.”
After winning Champions League, June 2019 “I feel mostly relieved, to be honest. Relieved for my family because the last six times we were away on holiday and always with a silver medal and that doesn’t feel so cool."
On winning Covid-interrupted Premier League, June 2020 “It is historic now more than ever. Give us an asterisk. Yes, do it. Because it is the most difficult season ever.”
On leaving Liverpool, January 2024 “It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy. I have no problem now. Obviously, I knew it already for longer that I will have to announce it at one point, but I am absolutely fine now. I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.”
On 12.30pm kick-offs, May 2024 “They dare to give us Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday 12.30 – it’s a crime! I was actually waiting for Amnesty International to go to them. I would like to be part of that meeting when someone says: ‘Liverpool 12:30’ and the whole room is bursting into laughter.”
Compiled by Morgan Ofori
Klopp said: “This is a massive challenge. I have no clue how the team meeting will be. The documentary guys asked me can they film the last team meeting, which nobody has ever had, and I said no. I have no idea how that will be. Maybe Virgil [van Dijk] will do it. Somebody has to do it who will be really on fire. Can I be on fire? Probably yes, I think so, but I don’t know how I will be in the moment. It will be really strange.”
Klopp said Liverpool’s long-serving goalkeeping coach, John Achterberg, would join Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League when he leaves the club this summer. The Brazil World Cup winner Cláudio Taffarel, who is also part of Liverpool’s goalkeeping staff, is staying.
