"Not one Liverpool player complained” - Roy Hodgson blasts VAR decision

Watford's manager Roy Hodgson has complained about the late penalty decision which went against his side, saying that VAR shouldn't have intervened.

In his post-match interview, as cited by Anfield Watch's Twitter account, the former Liverpool manager claimed the foul on Diogo Jota that led to a penalty shouldn't have been looked at by VAR because no one complained.

“I still find it very hard to accept when a situation happens when literally nobody sees it. The referee didn’t see it, Jurgen was asking what was happening, I said I didn’t know, not one Liverpool player complained," said Hodgson.

“But the game is stopped in the 88th minute and they are given the chance to make it 2-0 and that leaves a rather unpleasant taste in the mouth.

“It’s the only sad moment for me today. VAR has done a lot of very good things since it has been instituted in English football, this year I think better than last year.

“The biggest myth I’ve ever come across in football is refereeing decisions don’t change games. The players weren’t ranting and raving afterwards, they were more bemused than anything else, wondering why the referee had given that."

Anfield Watch Verdict

Maybe Roy was caught up in the moment but he'll probably look back at that interview and realise what he said makes no sense at all.

Just because no one has complained about it doesn't mean that it shouldn't be given as a foul. If we let fouls like that go then we should start playing rugby, not football.

If referee's only look at incidents that players complain about then what's stopping them from blatantly handballing it when no one is looking?

It was definitely a penalty and a great decision by VAR to ask the referee to review the incident. It was a perfect example of how VAR should be used in the Premier League.