Gary O’Neil hits out at VAR again after red card against Liverpool and mourns Virgil van Dijk

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil bemoaned what he saw as a VAR error which benefited Liverpool and criticized a “completely unacceptable” season for the officials.

The Reds ended the Jurgen Klopp era with a 2-0 Premier League win over the Midlanders at Anfield on Sunday afternoon.

Alexis Mac Allister and Jarell Quansah scored in the first half after Wolves full-back Nelson Semedo was sent off for a stamp on Mac Allister.

Referee Chris Kavanagh changed his decision from a yellow card to a red after being asked to consult his pitchside monitor by VAR David Coote

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And after seeing his side wrong in a succession of questionable VAR calls this campaign, O’Neil believes Wolves have once again been difficult to deal with.

“The VAR doesn’t even cut it off in the right place when he’s chasing it,” he said. “They stop when Nelson’s leg is really high, in line with his shin, and he still hasn’t made contact — he misses his shin and lands on his leg.

“There’s no way the VAR can get involved in things like that when the referee was very clear that it was a yellow card.

“Most people in football would agree it was a strong yellow card. If the ref decided it was a red, I don’t think VAR would have overturned it, so I don’t see why he needs to be involved. It’s not the technology’s fault, but it needs to be used better.”

O’Neil added: “They have to get better. This season has been completely unacceptable in terms of refereeing. It was terrible. We used to complain about the refs when we played, you always had a gripe but you knew it was live and things move fast.

“So they can’t show the intelligence that if they watch it in slow motion, it’s probably going to look worse. Consider this first. Consider the referee and his point of view. Do I have to get involved? I thought VAR was introduced for things like Thierry Henry’s handball against Republic of Ireland when the referee misses. “We saw her and we can help.”

“Not for Nelson who stands on someone’s leg and is considered reckless. I was very disappointed with the officiating this year. He was really poor. For the whole league, the level of refereeing has to be better.”

O’Neil believes Wolves should also have had a penalty when Matheus Cunha went down when challenging Virgil van Dijk in the first half.

“I thought Van Dijk was lucky when Cunha met him,” said the former Liverpool Academy coach. “Normally one-on-one with the contact not being given, but I thought he got on the wrong side of him and if you put an arm on him you’re in real danger of giving away a penalty.

“I thought we had a really good shout for one there. When the ref doesn’t give it, you’re pretty sure it won’t be overturned. But the game was over when they sent Nelson on.”