Game-On Reporter
Arne Slot launched a scathing attack on refereeing and VAR after Liverpool suffered a damaging 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, accusing officials of a season-long bias against his team.
The Liverpool head coach’s fury centered on a highly controversial first-half strike by United’s Benjamin Šeško that was allowed to stand despite strong appeals for handball.
The talking point arrived early in the match when the ball bounced off Šeško’s thigh and appeared to brush his fingers before crossing the line to make it 2-0 to the hosts. Despite a lengthy VAR check, the goal was not overturned due to a lack of “conclusive evidence.”
During his post-match press conference, Slot was asked whether the goal should have been chalked off for handball, a question that prompted a fiery rant from the Dutchman about refereeing decisions.
“If it was a touch, which I think it is, because if you know a bit about ball sports, you know that if a ball has a certain curve and the curve changes, there must have been a contact,” Slot said.
“But if it’s light then we should have a debate in football about whether that’s enough to disallow a goal. But the rule is if there was a touch then it should have been disallowed,” said Slot.
The Dutchman did not hold back, suggesting a broader, season-long inconsistency has systematically disadvantaged his team.
“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone this season that if there’s a VAR intervention or if there’s something that could be left or could be right (50-50) then the decision goes against us,” Slot continued.
Slot pointed to several incidents across both domestic and European campaigns to illustrate his point.
“That has been the whole season every single time this season.
“I remember Paris Saint-Germain at home, getting a penalty for a soft touch on Mac Allister but of course the VAR intervenes and says no, no, no, this is not a penalty. Then one week later when I see Paris Saint-Germain play against Bayern Munich and get that same soft touch but the penalty stays.
“I saw last week my goalkeeper on the floor with an injury and the referee doesn’t stop the game. I see a player of United off the pitch today and the referee stops the game when we try to play on.”
Despite his frustration with the officiating, the Liverpool boss conceded that his side’s own defensive lapses and loss of focus ultimately cost them the game. Liverpool fought back from 2-0 down to level the score at 2-2, only to switch off and concede the decisive third goal to United.
“That has been our whole season. But the second goal we didn’t concede because of a handball, we conceded it because we lost the ball in a stupid position and we lost a few big moments afterwards in duels,” Slot admitted.
“We have to first look at ourselves, that is completely clear and obvious, but that decisions have gone every single game against us, that’s also completely clear and obvious.
“When we played United the first time this season, I had one of my players needing five stitches on the floor, and the referee didn’t stop the game and we conceded.
“This is a complete pattern over the whole season, but there is also a pattern that we concede ridiculous goals when we are the better team, one or two are switching off and then we concede a goal,” said the Liverpool boss.
