RateTheRef

Having watched a still image of the mane offside it reminds me of the Sheffield United Toe that was offside last season. But this was tighter the top of the arm and the line he is ahead of the middle defenders backside and there is a very tiny gap all the way through to the Simon Bennett so by very small margins and being picky he is offside by law and hasn't given leeway to the attackers as instructed after last seasons Toe incident. But offside is offside right? 

It's really interesting for me that when we're watching these games, we scarcely talk about the poor performance of the on field referees anymore.
I thought Michael handled the game really well, and contributed massively to the ebb and flow of the game. His positioning for the Richarlison sending off was superb, and he diffused the situation immediately by taking out the RC.

It's a shame that he and his on field team have been let down by the VAR. I can see why the incident may have been missed by the VAR as the offside was so marginal, but if that is indeed what has happened here (and I wouldn't trust Dale Johnson in a month of Sundays) then it is unforgivable.

I’ve just rewatched MOTD and the Assistant clearly raises his flag when Pickford assaults Van Dijk. I wonder if he told the Referee via the comms that he’d seen the violent conduct? It was also clear that the ball was dead for a foul seconds earlier when Richarlison was rightly sent off.

Liverpool’s appeal or request for clarification will come to nothing because a reply will have to admit that VAR and those operating it are not fit for purpose and nobody will own up to that. Even if they did Liverpool won’t get the two points they were denied and Van Dijk will still be injured. I don’t see any reason the Premier League can’t look at Pickford’s antics if it wasn’t dealt with at the time by the match officials. That VAR didn’t review it defies belief.

It’s absolutely ruining football. All the promises that there wouldn’t be any further debate about refereeing decisions when VAR came in have amounted to nothing.

Player is marginally offside, however, the flag does not go up as per instructions these days, and play goes on and the keeper makes a genuine attempt to play the ball which results in the offside player being injured and having to leave the field.
VAR looks at the situation to see if a penalty should be awarded but the eveidence shows that the player was offside, therefore, that is the first offence and the offside is given.

Are we then going to dismiss a keeper for a genuine attempt to play the ball, bearing in mind that it could well have been the keeper who was injured and had to leave the field.  Those running the game have manufactured these situations  and the use of VAR is compounding the issue.

In the same incident in any game in England outside the Premier League, the offside would have been flagged but because of the speed of the game the keeper would still have challenged and it would be possible  that players are injured, however, the free  kick would have been given for offside and everyone gets on with the game.
The monster has been created in an effort to make the game 100% perfect.

I am not sure that it is a "genuine attempt to play the ball" - but that loses any relevance when considering Serious Foul Play:

Did the challenge endanger the safety of an opponent?  100% yes. 

Should Pickford have been sanctioned as such?  100% yes.

Should Oliver have seen it?  Almost certainly - he had a decent viewing eye-line.

Should Coote - which access to technology and as much time as he needs identified it?  100% yes.

I am not sure if the "collision" would not have happened had the flag been raised instantly and Oliver's whistle stopped play - there was very little time.  I am sure, however, that this nonsense of telling AR's to hold their flag and see what happens next is going to end with a serious injury one day soon.

Quoting Leggy: "Should Oliver have seen it?  Almost certainly - he had a decent viewing eye-line."

That was my initial impression.  Having watched it again, doubts crept in as it was hard to tell the position of Everton's No. 12 when Pickford went in feet first and the collision occurred.  It all happened in a split second and Oliver seemed to move to his right as if perhaps to get a better view.  Don't want to be seen to be making excuses though, and it is disappointing that someone who I consider to be our best referee at present either missed it or misjudged the severity of what happened.

To my mind though, it does raise an important point.  From comments on here a while back, I understand the referee can't prompt the VAR about an incident and the initiative lies with the VAR to review.  It's conceivable there will be occasions where a referee instinctively feels he's missed something and his AR can't help him.
This incident could be one such.  Wouldn't it make sense if the referee could inform VAR of his doubts?  Normally of course VAR would automatically review, but  Coote's failure to do so, apparently as all the focus was on the offside or penalty, might have been avoided had Oliver asked, or been allowed to ask, VAR to be sure to look at the Pickford challenge.

   
 

Quoting Leggy: "Should Oliver have seen it?  Almost certainly - he had a decent viewing eye-line."

That was my initial impression.  Having watched it again, doubts crept in as it was hard to tell the position of Everton's No. 12 when Pickford went in feet first and the collision occurred.  It all happened in a split second and Oliver seemed to move to his right as if perhaps to get a better view.  Don't want to be seen to be making excuses though, and it is disappointing that someone who I consider to be our best referee at present either missed it or misjudged the severity of what happened.

To my mind though, it does raise an important point.  From comments on here a while back, I understand the referee can't prompt the VAR about an incident and the initiative lies with the VAR to review.  It's conceivable there will be occasions where a referee instinctively feels he's missed something and his AR can't help him.
This incident could be one such.  Wouldn't it make sense if the referee could inform VAR of his doubts?  Normally of course VAR would automatically review, but  Coote's failure to do so, apparently as all the focus was on the offside or penalty, might have been avoided had Oliver asked, or been allowed to ask, VAR to be sure to look at the Pickford challenge.

   
 

The referee always has to make a decision but they can have general conversations. There has been footage released of audio conversations in MLS/A League before and an official will frequently say something like 'I don't think X was interfering but can we double check it please? On-field decision is goal but just make sure'.

Read the comments here with interest. Watched the game on TV last night. The assistants flag was not raised until after the Pickford foul. He had a very clear view of the incident. Clear red card. The  "offside" call for the disallowed Liverpool goal was not proved by the camera and was at best level. The discussion here and on TV channels shows to me that the officials have brought the game into disrepute by their failures. Be interested to see the next round of appointments. I know we all make mistakes, BUT!!!!!

The on-field decision was offside. The assistant would have delayed the flag until the end of the move (although it happened so quickly, I doubt play would have been stopped before even in a non-VAR match.)

Mane's upper arm was judged to be offside I believe - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EkmG5k3XIAcG9AB?format=jpg&name=small

I'm never too fussed about an individual offside decision (unless there's clear evidence it's wrong or they've misinterpreted something, which I've yet to see.) I don't believe the technology to be 100% accurate but it's the most accurate they've currently got, is used across Europe and all 20 PL clubs signed up to it so I don't think any can complain too much if a one-off decision happens to go against them. I think the process could be changed/improved - although most suggestions I've seen for that so far also have their flaws!