James Maddison trolls Trent Alexander-Arnold over Tottenham-Liverpool VAR farce
As the two gathered for England duty, James Maddison launched a subtle jab at Trent Alexander-Arnold on Liverpool’s desire for a replay of their loss to Tottenham.
In Gareth Southgate’s team for the Three Lions’ next matches against Australia and Italy, Maddison and Alexander-Arnold are both present. Additionally, they both took part in the contentious match between the Reds and Spurs.
Liverpool received an apology from the PGMOL, the organization that oversees refereeing, for “significant human errors” that led to Luis Diaz’s first-half goal being incorrectly ruled offside. Reds manager Jurgen Klopp demanded a replay after that apology as his team went on to lose 2-1.
Those requests, however, have no chance of being fulfilled because the Premier League is standing by Spurs’ victory. Additionally, Maddison now has new ammunition to make fun of Alexander-Arnold thanks to Klopp’s remarks.
On Monday during the break for the international, the two met at St. George’s Park. In response to the requests for a review, Maddison wasted no time in making fun of his international teammate.
He wrote the phrase “Still asking for a replay” beneath a picture of himself sitting down and gazing up at Alexander-Arnold on his Instagram story. Maddison will be hoping that during the coming week he will get some playing time due to his remarkable form, which has helped Spurs storm to the top of the league.
But Klopp, who was sure that his team had been robbed of at least a point, would not like his clever jab. The German advocated for a rerun a few days after the PGMOL apologized, although he expressed sympathy for the match officials.
“All the personnel involved, including the fourth official, linesman, on-field referee, and especially now, VAR, they didn’t do anything on purpose. That is important to remember. It was a clear error, and I believe there would have been corrections made later, according to Klopp.
“If not, I can say right away—and I’m sure some people don’t want me to say it—that I believe a rematch should be the sole option, not as the manager of Liverpool but rather as a football fan. It is as it is.
“It most likely won’t take place. The counterargument will likely be that once you open that gate, everyone will ask for it. I believe the circumstance is so unusual that a replay would be appropriate.
“In this particular game, what makes it a little more unique is that we gave up a regular goal two minutes after we scored it. How everything is interconnected; if the other aim had been considered, we would have started in the middle of the field rather than where the game had begun.
“The outcome would have been different. That’s how I see it. We need to just have a calm conversation about it. What is actually feasible now that the game is over and all the emotions have been released? Replay, or far better than a replay, fix it out right away if it happens again in the future.
