Shrewsbury boss Sam Ricketts questions VAR rules after loss to Liverpool
Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts called for clarification on VAR rules after Shrewsbury fell to a 1-0 defeat against Liverpool on Tuesday night.
The comments come after Shrewsbury forward Shaun Whalley saw his goal disallowed early in the second half after after a lengthy VAR check found a player had been offside earlier in the move.
Speaking after the fourth round replay at Anfield, Ricketts maintained that VAR is not fit for purpose in it's current form, while saying it exposes the flaws in football's rules, echoing the sentiment he made exactly one year ago after an FA Cup match against Wolves.
"I like VAR, I don't mind it, the problem is it just highlights rules,'' said Ricketts.
"How far back to go before a goal to disallow it? I remember a goal here not too long ago I think van Dijk handled it on the halfway line.
"VAR said it was too far away from the goal to get involved so how far back do you go? I worried about Shaun Whalley, no problem there, I worried about Daniel Udoh's phase, he was offside.
"But it ended up coming back five, six or seven passes earlier, 10 or 15 seconds before the goal that they give an offside for.
"Somebody just needs to set a rule that you can only go back so far. It didn't make any difference to the goal - Scotty Golbourne's coming back to our goal. He didn't get an advantage.
"The way I understand it VAR was brought in for a Thierry Henry handball, real final actions, not two or three phases before the goal gets scored.''
Liverpool fielded their youngest ever senior side, at just 19 years and 102 days, claiming a famous FA Cup victory as defender Ro-Shaun Williams' calamitous own goal gifted the home side the victory.
To the chagrin of many supporters, VAR was used in the replay at Anfield, and not in the first tie at Montgomery Waters Meadow, as VAR is only permitted to be used in Premier League grounds that are licensed to use the technology in the third, fourth and fifth rounds of the competition.
However, every match from the quarter-final stage onwards will be licensed to use VAR.
New Premier League chief executive Richard Masters has admitted that VAR is “here to stay” but accepted that some tweaks must be made.
Masters said there will be a “bigger conversation” with clubs in April to discuss any possible amendments to the nascent technology.
