Jurgen Klopp’s frustration with referee Paul Tierney was evident during his time at Liverpool. The animosity between the two was highlighted during the 2-2 draw against Tottenham in December 2021, where Tierney made several controversial decisions. This clash was not the only incident that marred their relationship, as Klopp received a ban for his comments about the referee after another game against Spurs. The Liverpool manager even had to face Tierney as the referee for his penultimate match in charge, raising eyebrows and tempting fate.
While some may argue that Klopp’s criticism of Tierney was unfounded, there is evidence to suggest that the referee has been one of the most frustrating officials in the Premier League. According to ESPN, Tierney made the most VAR errors during the 2023/24 season, totaling four mistakes. His average error rate was one mistake every 7.75 games, second only to Stuart Attwell (7.5 games). Darren England (5.5 games) and Tony Harrington (five games) also made more errors than Tierney.
One notable error by Tierney was his failure to intervene in Alexis Mac Allister’s red card incident against Bournemouth. Fortunately, the decision was later overturned after an appeal. Interestingly, despite his high number of mistakes, Tierney’s own refereeing decisions were only overturned by VAR twice throughout the season. In comparison, Harrington had the worst record with five overturns in just 10 games.
Harrington, who averaged 0.6 subjective errors per game, was among the worst-performing referees overall. He ranked just behind Attwell (0.71 per game) and Michael Salisbury (1.07 per game). On the other hand, John Brooks (0.14 per game) and Simon Hooper (0.16 per game), both of whom controversially sent off Liverpool players during the season, had the fewest subjective errors.
In other news, Liverpool experienced the impact of VAR decisions more favorably than any other club, excluding Brighton. However, they also endured more VAR errors than any other team.
These statistics shed light on the challenges faced by referees in the Premier League and the impact their decisions can have on teams. While Klopp’s frustration with Tierney may have been seen as excessive by some, the data suggests that there were legitimate concerns about the referee’s performance.