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Football

28th Nov 2020

James Milner says he is “falling out of love” with football because of VAR

Reuben Pinder

Liverpool had two goals disallowed by VAR against Brighton

James Milner has said he feels like he is falling out of love with football ‘in its current state’ due to the implementation of VAR.

Milner was on the wrong end of three VAR calls on Saturday afternoon, as Liverpool had two goals disallowed and were then penalised for a foul in the penalty area in injury time, allowing Brighton to equalise at the death.

Both goals were disallowed for offside, one extremely marginal, the other much clearer to the naked eye.

The penalty decision was contentious, as Andy Robertson caught Danny Welbeck, who just about managed to poke the ball around the Liverpool left-back, before taking a couple of steps and dropping to the ground.

To the letter of the law, it was a foul, but Liverpool fans understandably felt hard done by.

To make matters worse, Milner suffered a hamstring injury in the game as well, adding another high profile name to Liverpool’s growing list of casualties.

But unlike his manager Jurgen Klopp, who was more concerned with an apparently unfair fixture schedule, Milner was more concerned with VAR.

The Reds vice captain vented his thoughts on Instagram following the game.

“It’s “clear and obvious” we need a serious discussion about VAR,” Milner wrote.

“Sure I’m not alone in feeling like they are falling out of love with the game in its current state.”