Liverpool And The Offside Conundrum
Maybe it was all very predictable. After being frustrated by a disallowed goal at Manchester City before the international break, Liverpool found themselves stung once again by the confusing subjective offside law.
When Dan Ndoye appeared to obstruct goalkeeper Alisson as Murillo scored Nottingham Forest’s opener at Anfield, opinions immediately split. Was Ndoye impacting the goalkeeper? Possibly — he stood in front of Alisson as the ball went past him. Yet, like the incident at Manchester City, VAR allowed the on-field decision to stand.
One game, Liverpool has a goal disallowed. The next, they concede one. The sting is real.
The Subjectivity Of Offside
Discussions around subjective offside are far from new. The Laws of the Game from 1903-04 already highlighted that a player in an offside position must not “in any way whatsoever interfere with an opponent or with the play until the ball has been again played.”
Fast forward 122 years, and referees are still interpreting whether a player in an offside position is impacting play — even without touching the ball.
Take Tottenham’s 4-1 loss to Arsenal. During Eberechi Eze’s second goal, Bukayo Saka, Martin Zubimendi, and Leandro Trossard were all offside, but the goal stood. Former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said, “Trossard is in the goalkeeper’s line of vision. Offside, in my opinion.” And that’s the core issue — it’s one person’s opinion, and others can make a valid case the other way.
Why VAR Isn’t A Perfect Solution
VAR’s main role is to check the validity of on-field decisions, not to create consistency across matches. As Hart explained:
“Two of those goals were given. It makes it very difficult, and we have these continual conversations. VAR can slow it down and pause it, but it’s still a matter of interpretation.”
Even the proposal of a more objective standard — for example, always ruling offside players in the six-yard box as impacting the goalkeeper — creates unintended consequences. Shades of grey remain, and goals may be unfairly disallowed, going against the spirit of the law.
The Reality Of VAR Interventions
VAR interventions on subjective offside remain rare. Last season, only two interventions on line-of-vision situations occurred, both resulting in disallowed goals being awarded:
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Bernardo Silva – Manchester City at Wolves
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Jamie Vardy – Leicester at Fulham
In 2023-24, four goals were disallowed for interfering with the goalkeeper: Rasmus Hojlund, Mohamed Salah, Lorenz Assignon, and Tawanda Chirewa.
Even when incidents are similar, no two decisions are exactly the same, which explains why fans perceive inconsistency.
Liverpool’s recent struggles with subjective offside decisions, from Manchester City to Nottingham Forest, are a reminder: VAR may help clarify decisions, but the debate will never fully disappear. Until football finds a way to remove human interpretation entirely, perceived inconsistencies and passionate fan debates are here to stay.
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