11 March 2024 , 12:01
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Richard Keys has claimed Premier League referee Michael Oliver is “above reproach” and VAR is a “waste of time” in games that he is officiating.
Oliver did not give Liverpool a last-gasp penalty in Sunday’s draw against Manchester City at Anfield after Jeremy Doku’s raised leg collided with the ribs of Alexis Mac Allister.
Amid the fallout, television presenter Keys has doubled down on his previous criticism of the Premier League’s top ref - suggesting that other officials fear him.
Keys posted on X: “Until someone in VAR finds the courage to tell Oliver that he’s made a mistake what we saw happen at Anfield yesterday - & most weeks elsewhere - will keep happening. I’ve said it all this season & last. He thinks he’s above reproach. VAR is a waste of time when he’s on the pitch.”
Keys would go further in his infamous online blog, writing: "What did Jurgen Klopp have for lunch if he thought Stewart Attwell was going to tell Michael Oliver he’d made a mistake? There was no chance of that happening. Zero. None. Not Sunday. Not ever. And I’ve been telling you all this for months now.
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"Of course Liverpool should’ve had a late pen - but once Oliver had decided otherwise, Attwell was in a really invidious position. There was no way he was going to ask Oliver to go to the monitor."
Last month Keys said that VAR David Coote was afraid to send Oliver to the screen during Liverpool’s win away to Brentford after Ivan Toney was challenged by Andrew Robertson inside the penalty area.
Keys wrote: "Brentford should’ve had a pen. Robertson knew it was a pen. You can see that by the way he limply kicks the ball away after clattering Toney. The only person in the ground that didn’t think it was a pen was Michael Oliver. What happened to VAR?
"David Coote went missing because he knows that Oliver is never going to accept someone he regards as inferior to him sending him to a monitor.
"Operators are scared of Oliver so they back off. We know this because Mike Dean admitted as much early in the season. Refs help their mates out and duck controversy."
Jurgen Klopp appeals to the assistant referee vs Man City (Getty Images)Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was adamant that his team should have been awarded the spot kick and was perplexed by what currently constitutes a “clear and obvious” error.
Speaking after his 30th and potentially final meeting against City boss Pep Guardiola, Klopp said: “Why would the guy in the (VAR) studio think that is not clear and obvious? What must you have for lunch if you think that is not clear and obvious?
“I’m really not angry, it’s just the situation. It’s fine. I’m so happy about the way we played today.”
In an an earlier conversation with Sky Sports, Klopp said of the decision: “This situation on all positions on the pitch is 100 per cent a foul and it's a yellow card. [Doku] hit the ball but he could only hit the ball because his foot was right there. If the ball is not there, he kills him.”
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