Mark Clattenburg says he had ‘reservations’ about what PGMOL did before Arsenal vs Liverpool

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There was a late change made by PGMOL ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Liverpool.

Given the poor record the Gunners hold at Anfield, the last thing Mikel Arteta’s side would’ve wanted to envisage was a VAR blunder.

Arsenal have suffered from their fair share of VAR errors, with mistakes forcing PGMOL into a statement change ahead of the matchup on Merseyside.

Michael Salisbury was supposed to be on VAR for Arsenal’s meeting with Liverpool, but before the game, he was replaced by John Brooks after Saturday’s action.

Mark Clattenburg reacts to VAR change in Arsenal’s clash against Liverpool

PGMOL were forced to undergo an inquest after Fulham’s defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea beat their West London rivals 2-0 at the Bridge, but it wasn’t the hosts who struck first.

Fulham took the lead in the first half through 18-year-old Josh King, who was denied his first Premier League goal in cruel circumstances.

Salisbury intervened on VAR for a supposed foul in the build-up, which led to the on-field decision of a goal being changed.

PGMOL later acknowledged that Salisbury made a mistake, resulting in the official being withdrawn from duty in Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool.

It was a surprising change for PGMOL to make so late, and a change that former referee Mark Clattenburg shared his verdict on.

Speaking exclusively to Arsenal Insider, Clattenburg admitted one thing he’s always had ‘reservations’ about with regard to the incident.

“I have always had reservations with match officials being appointed on consecutive match days,” he said.

“Normally, if match officials make a mistake, then the following match day they can manage the situation.”

Clattenburg went on to share that he also has a problem with ‘match officials being specialist VARs’.

“In this case, with Michael Salisbury, he has now been exposed to the system, and after making a mistake in the Chelsea v Fulham game, he has been publicly removed from his next match.

“I am also against match officials being specialist VARs. For me, it does not work as the VARs lose the feeling of being a referee. I am sure if Salisbury had the football feeling, he would not have recommended a review.”

After what happened at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal will be relieved that PGMOL made the decision they did, despite it being publicly at Salisbury’s expense.

Marco Silva was furious with Michael Salisbury

Clattenburg felt for Salisbury with regard to his opinion that the official shouldn’t have been in the position he was anyway, with a match following the day after his blunder.

Others, however, felt more strongly about Salisbury’s involvement at Fulham’s expense, with none more angered than manager Marco Silva.

“To disallow a goal like that is unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Silva said in his post-match press conference.

“We have all the meetings with the people in charge; we try to see their direction. One of the main things was: ‘VAR is not here to referee the game.’ I would prefer to say nothing more as I will be punished.”

It was a bad day at the office for Salisbury that earned him a day off at Anfield, a poor outing that cost Fulham dearly.