When manager Arne Slot and Liverpool look back at this season, a crazy January afternoon when they drew 2-2 at Fulham will go a long way to summing up their misfortunes.
With top scorer Hugo Ekitike out with a muscle issue, Liverpool’s struggles were compounded when one of their former players Harry Wilson opened the scoring in a first half in which Slot’s side failed to test home goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Yet they equalised through a controversial Florian Wirtz goal – and looked to have snatched victory in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Cody Gakpo scored in front of the away end.
However, late substitute Harrison Reed fired home a contender for goal of the season from 25 yards in the 97th minute as Slot’s side dropped points again.
“Losing that game would have been completely unfair to us,” said Fulham manager Marco Silva.
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to nine games, but yet again their problems were laid bare.
“If you’re not part of Liverpool, you think you’d win it,” said Slot. “But unfortunately I’ve been experiencing this for months now that the first chance the other team gets leads to a goal. The second thing is that the other team scores a goal you don’t expect in extra time. So, is it then a surprise?” the Dutchman said.
What did surprise many inside Craven Cottage was that Wirtz’s equaliser was confirmed after a video assistant referee (VAR) check – despite replays suggesting he was in an offside position.
“I was sure it was offside so I didn’t even celebrate,” Wirtz told Sky Sports.
“I felt the same. Many people inside the stadium felt the same,” said Silva. “It looked offside, but we have to believe the semi-automated technology worked well and did right,” the Fulham boss added.
Why did Wirtz equaliser stand?
Wirtz looked offside. And he was – just. So why was his goal allowed to stand after a VAR review?
In the first two seasons of VAR there were some very confusing offside decisions. The lines drawn to the defender and the attacker would be on top of each other.
There were many complaints that this was against the spirit of the offside law.
So from the start of the 2021-22 season all leagues added a tolerance level, or benefit of the doubt, of about 5cm to the old offside technology. It meant that if the two lines touched, the player would be given onside regardless of the on-field decision.
This was because of inaccuracies in the technology, like the correct moment the ball has been passed.
In effect a player could now be marginally offside on the technology, but onside when the tolerance level was applied.
At the time, referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) estimated it could lead to an additional 20 goals a season.
The advent of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) changed all that. Other leagues, including the top flights in Germany, Spain and Italy, have gone back to offside by the millimetre.
But when the Premier League introduced SAOT it wanted to continue with the tolerance level, to give some leeway to the attacker. That is because there are still questions about treating this new technology as flawless.
It is also why you will get situations like Wirtz, who appears to be just offside, but SAOT will give him the benefit of the doubt.
Wirtz’s goal came after a spell of play in which Liverpool were much more direct after a dull first half, with Conor Bradley running at the heart of Fulham and teeing up the German.
“I would love to create more, but if we play with the amount of midfielders we play with and one attacker against a 5-4-1 of Fulham in an away game, I don’t know if you can expect chance after chance,” said Slot.
“Overall, we have done enough to win the game and we did very well by limiting them to maybe one half chance – but the end result still stands.”
And Slot was adamant he has not changed his principles, despite Liverpool’s struggles in recent weeks, in terms of the quality of their performances.
“I didn’t change as a manager. I would love to play with eight attackers if that’s possible defensively as well, but if those eight attackers don’t defend enough it’s hard to win a game of football,” said Slot.
“My philosophy of football hasn’t changed this year compared to all the seasons I was a manager before. But we have to do it with the players that are available.”
Slot said he did not risk Ekitike, who travelled to London but had a muscular issue known as Doms (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), especially with Alexander Isak injured.
With a return to the capital next up against league leaders Arsenal, Liverpool will be praying for Ekitike to return on Thursday to offer a focal point. The challenge that awaits against the best defence in the Premier League is already tough enough.
