Curtis Jones was unfairly treated by Curtis McManaman and Jermain Defoe during Liverpool’s 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur.
Although it makes sense that Steve McManaman, a former Liverpool player, would be displeased with the VAR calls from yesterday.
Even current Tottenham coach Jermain Defoe felt that Curtis Jones shouldn’t have been dismissed (30/09/23 at 6:30 pm), according to Premier League Productions.
After first showing Curtis Jones a yellow card, on-field referee Simon Hooper was instructed by VAR to go to his monitor where he was issued the red card.
As VAR descended to new depths, that would just turn out to be the top of the iceberg in terms of some of the calls made yesterday.
All of this left McManaman incensed, as the former Liverpool player and Defoe concurred that the on-field referee seeing a “freeze frame” of Curtis Jones’ tackle while looking at his VAR screen didn’t help.
Curtis Jones’ red card
“I think no red card,” said McManaman. “Yes, it looks like a poor challenge, at the end. But I think Curtis Jones gets a bit of the ball. I think the follow-through and the momentum of him stretching for the tackle goes over the top of the ball and collides with Bissouma.”
Defoe gave his view: “I think it is the momentum of the challenge. He is unlucky. But when you slow it down, it looks worse than it is – when the referee went to the monitor and he saw that freeze frame, it almost made his mind up. I thought he was unlucky.”
McManaman added: “I don’t like this, at all. I don’t like that. The referee going over and a freeze frame on the collision when he should be seeing it in real-time and then making the judgment, then maybe finishing on that.
“I have got a huge issue with a few decisions, to be honest – I was really surprised.”
Liverpool’s winning streak is broken
For Jurgen Klopp and his Liverpool players, who appear to be doing things the hard way this season, that is their first setback of the year.
Ask Newcastle United supporters: either they lose the lead or they reduce to 10 men, and occasionally they do both.
Interestingly enough, they have won each of those games and yesterday, when they were down to nine men, it appeared as though they would succeed in doing so.
The worst of all sucker punches was the Joel Matip own goal, but there is no time to dwell and they must continue.