Liverpool are seeking further information about the review into Saturday’s offside controversy at Tottenham before deciding on next steps.
The club had a Luis Diaz goal ruled out in north London due to a miscommunication between VAR Darren England and on-field referee Simon Hooper. The Premier League game was goalless at the time of the incident, with the Reds going on to lose 2-1.
Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday night saying they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.
Much of the focus since has been on precisely how the club would like the matter escalated and resolved, but PA understands at this stage the key word in the statement from a Liverpool perspective is “explore”.
They are seeking greater clarity and transparency over precisely what the review of the incident promised by referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) will entail.
The Reds acknowledge there is no playbook and no established procedure to deal with this set of circumstances, as there would be in the case of appealing against a red card for instance.
PGMOL issued a statement on Saturday night acknowledging a “significant error” had occurred. Hooper and his assistants had given offside against Diaz on the field, and the PA news agency understands that although England followed the correct procedure in drawing lines, he lost focus and mistakenly thought the initial onfield decision had been onside.
This resulted in him issuing a ‘check complete’ notice to Hooper, rather than advising of an intervention and the goal being awarded.
Once the officials realised an error had been made, play had restarted and VAR protocols state that once that has happened, there is no way back to revisit a decision.
England was replaced as a fourth official for the Nottingham Forest v Brentford match on Sunday while his assistant VAR at Tottenham, Dan Cook, has been replaced for Monday night’s match between Fulham and Chelsea.
Referee and VAR appointments for the coming weekend’s matches are due to be announced at 10am on Tuesday morning.
The controversy over the Diaz goal has led to calls for the conversation between England and Hooper to be broadcast.
PGMOL has not ruled out the possibility of the audio forming part of the next ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ programme, which is due to air next Monday.
England and Cook had been part of a team of officials who oversaw a fixture between Sharjah and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, arriving back in the UK on Friday morning.
Requests for English officials to take charge of domestic matches overseas are made to the Football Association, with permission for officials to travel granted jointly by the FA and PGMOL.
Just as players involved in Europa League matches on a Thursday do not return to domestic action until Sunday, so officials’ duties are balanced to take account of any overseas assignments in the week.
For instance, Michael Oliver, who refereed the match in the UAE last week, was a fourth official on Saturday but was back to refereeing at Forest on Sunday.
Nor was the UAE trip unusual. It was the fifth time in the last 10 months that officials have overseen domestic matches overseas, with Tom Bramall and Andy Madley leading teams to Japan in January and the early summer respectively, Oliver officiating a Saudi match in April and Craig Pawson going to Greece in May.
That is on top of English officials frequently being called upon for club and national team matches in international competitions.
Liverpool’s statement said the error that occurred had led to sporting integrity being undermined, but Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said on Monday he still had complete “trust” in referees.
“Well, I’m not so often giving comment on refereeing because they do what they have to do,” the Dutchman said.
“Of course, the standard has to be high and it’s a part of the game.
“Of course, you can expect, we can expect, teams can expect, the fans can all expect, that it has to be a high standard – so it should be because it’s Premier League.
“But I think and I’m sure they do what they can. They are very professional, so they will give their best and I trust them.”
Pochettino leaves Chelsea after one season
Mauricio Pochettino will leave Chelsea by mutual consent after one season in charge, the club announced on Tuesday.
Despite a poor start to the season, Pochettino led Chelsea to a sixth-place finish, confirming a European place - an improvement on their 12th-place finish in 2022-23.
He also led them to the EFL Cup final and the semi-final of the FA Cup.
Speculation surrounded Pochettino's position during the latter stages of the Premier League campaign, though he remained tight-lipped about his future.
The Argentinian had one year left on his contract but now leaves the club with immediate effect.
In a club statement, Pochettino said: "Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and Sporting Directors for the opportunity to be part of this football club's history.
"The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."
Sporting Directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: "On behalf of everyone at Chelsea, we would like to express our gratitude to Mauricio for his service this season.
"He will be welcome back to Stamford Bridge any time, and we wish him all the very best in his future coaching career."
Alonso wants to write more history with Leverkusen in Europa League final
Xabi Alonso is hopeful that his Bayer Leverkusen side can make more history in their Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday.
Leverkusen became the first side in Bundesliga history to go unbeaten in a single season on their way to the top-flight title, and across all competitions, they have not lost any of their last 51 matches.
Now, they have the opportunity to complete an unbeaten treble if they can get past Atalanta before taking on Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.
Only three sides have previously won the competition without losing a game – Chelsea in 2018-19, Villarreal in 2020-21 and Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021-22, with Leverkusen looking to be added to that list.
Alonso is taking charge of his first European final as a manager and highlights the ambition the club have to do something significant.
"It would mean a lot, a lot to me [to win a European trophy]," he told UEFA. "To be able to share it with the people from the club, with the fans.
"You see what it meant when we won the Bundesliga. To be able to win a European title after so many years since we won [the UEFA Cup in 1988] would be historic, and we want to do that, to have a historic season.
"It would be something written in golden letters, not only in the history of our club but probably all European football. I hope we can."
Like his counterpart, Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini is also taking charge of a European final for the first time in his career.
The Italian side clinched a top-five finish in Serie A with their win over Lecce on Saturday and are looking to win their first major trophy in 61 years.
Looking back on the season, Gasperini says he is proud of the work his side have done to make it through to the club's first European final.
"It feels good," Gasperini said. "It's a great achievement and source of satisfaction, achieved with a really good season from this whole team.
"Is it the highest point of my career? Yes, in terms of accomplishment and prestige, absolutely. In terms of gratification, fortunately, I've had quite a few, although perhaps not on the same level.
"This team always wanted it. Sometimes, you get teams who are good technically but lacking in determination and hunger.
"From the start, from the group stage, since we played in Lisbon, in a group where we were not the favourites – Sporting [CP] were the favourites – we played great matches against strong opponents. Of course, winning at Anfield boosted our confidence even more."
Southgate envisages central role for 'brilliant' Foden at Euro 2024
Gareth Southgate believes Phil Foden's starting position is less important than the spaces he is allowed to attack, pledging to find a way of letting him operate centrally at Euro 2024.
Foden was included in England's 33-man preliminary squad on Tuesday, and he is expected to be among the first names on the teamsheet after enjoying a fine campaign.
Foden was named Premier League Player of the Season as he helped Manchester City win an unprecedented fourth straight title, scoring 19 goals and adding seven assists.
Only three players in the league bettered Foden's goal tally, while he also ranked seventh in the division for chances created (73) and fourth for possession won in the final third (35 times).
Foden scored two excellent goals as City clinched the title with a 3-1 final-day win over West Ham, drifting infield from the right to find space between the lines and in the penalty area.
While the presence of Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka has led many to conclude Foden will be stationed on the left in Germany, Southgate is aware of the need to grant him positional freedom.
"Phil has played off the right, off the left, the key is where he ends up, not his starting position," Southgate said at a press conference on Tuesday.
"He plays on the left with City, sometimes he stays wide, but he's allowed to drift, and it has always been the same with us. He's allowed to drift.
"Then there's where a player has to defend. Jude has played as a 10 all season, and sometimes he has defended on the left for Real Madrid.
"It's about where these players arrive and where you allow them to drift, that's the key. I think if you spoke to all of our players, we never pin them to a touchline, that's not how we work so there is that freedom."
Foden produced a series of talismanic displays for City in the run-in, scoring match-winning hat-tricks against Brentford and Aston Villa and masterminding a vital comeback against Manchester United with two goals in March.
The 23-year-old stepped up while players like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland were sidelined through injury, and Southgate has been impressed by his ability to shoulder that responsibility.
"It's obvious the brilliant season Phil has had, how he stepped up in big games not only when big players have been out but when he's been playing alongside them as well," Southgate added.
"You want him in central areas as you do one or two others, so we have to find the best way of making that happen."
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