Mikel Arteta Sympathises with Liverpool over ‘Extremely Frustrating’ VAR Error

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta believes VAR is still not at the level required and sympathises with Liverpool after they had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside in their defeat to Tottenham.

The Merseysiders have requested to hear the VAR audio from Saturday’s game after Luis Diaz had a legitimate goal wrongly ruled out with PGMOL confirming that a ‘significant human error’ had taken place.

VAR Darren England is believed to have mistakenly thought that the goal had been awarded by the on-field team so quickly said ‘check complete’ to confirm that Diaz was onside. However, the on-field team took that to mean that their original call of offside had been correct and play restarted with a free-kick to Spurs, prompting a massive furore afterwards.

Arteta’s Experience with VAR

Arteta is no stranger to controversial VAR decisions with Arsenal receiving an apology from PGMOL following an error against Brentford that cost the Gunners two points last season and the Spanish coach believes the system still needs to be fine-tuned.

Asked for his thoughts on VAR after what happened at the weekend, Arteta said: ‘We had some big discussions before the start of the season and everyone had the right intentions to improve the game and find the best way to take it forward. But it’s true that with everything that already happened this season, not just in the Premier League but in other countries as well, the pressure is increasing. It’s not easy for them. It’s not easy for any club or any manager because that really affects part of the season or a result and that is a dangerous thing to do.’

Arteta’s Sympathy for Liverpool

Asked if he has sympathy for Liverpool, Arteta replied: ‘For sure, you know at the end you want to get what you deserve. You want to minimise errors that you cannot control away from the work and the job that you do on a daily basis. Everybody is trying to have a really clean and honest game but in the end you have to earn the right to win it and play in the conditions that the rules allow. When that doesn’t happen it’s extremely frustrating.’

Probed on whether more VAR training is required, Arteta added: ‘Well I don’t know. When they explain all the processes of what they’re trying to do it sounds really logical, but in the heat but when you’re talking about millimetres and interpretation of other things like the frames of the camera it’s very, very different. It’s a shame that it’s happening but at the moment we haven’t got the right answers I think.’

Arsenal’s Champions League Preparations

Arteta was speaking to reporters over the phone after his in-person press conference ahead of facing Lens in the Champions League was cancelled due to bad weather delaying Arsenal’s flight out of Luton Airport on Monday evening.

Conclusion

VAR has been a controversial topic since its introduction into football and Mikel Arteta has experienced its pitfalls first hand. He sympathises with Liverpool over their recent VAR error and believes that more training is required for VAR officials in order to minimise errors. Arsenal’s Champions League preparations were hampered by bad weather delaying their flight out of Luton Airport.

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