David Moyes said he was "surprised" to see West Ham United denied a late penalty against Liverpool and accused the VAR of “disrespect” after the Hammers slipped to a 2-1 defeat on Wednesday.
The West Ham manager angrily confronted Chris Kavanagh on the field at full time after the referee decided not to award a penalty when Thiago Alcantara’s arm hit the ball as he challenged Danny Ings in the box.
VAR Niel Swarbick did not instruct Kavanagh to review the incident, leaving an incandescent Moyes fuming.
“I’ve a chance to see it since,” said Moyes. “The difference for me is, and you’ll probably hear them coming out with some rubbish about he [Thiago] needed to break his fall, but if you lunge it’s your own fault for lunging and being out of control in the tackle.
“You can break your fall by sliding and having to put your arm down but when you lunge for the ball, for me, that completely nullifies anything they’re talking about breaking your fall. I think it’s a penalty kick.
“I think the hardest thing to take is the disrespect from VAR, that VAR wouldn’t have at least said to the referee that this might be worth having a look. That tells me they don’t see that as even close to a decision. I’m surprised.
“Somebody in VAR didn’t have enough football knowledge to understand that this could be close.
“Whoever it was chose not to send the referee [to the pitchside monitor]. VAR, for me, showed no respect whatsoever to us."
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp took a different view, though expressed sympathy for Moyes.
“I heard now about the handball. I thought he just fell on the ball but I can see why Moyesie would think different,” Klopp said.
Moyes' mood would not have been helped by Liverpool's come-from-behind victory having taken the lead through Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta on 12 minutes.
Cody Gakpo cancelled that out with a long-range drive before the Hammers were denied a second goal when Jarrod Bowen's effort was ruled out for offside.
Joel Matip’s towering header on 67 minutes put Liverpool ahead before the late drama as the Reds held on for their third straight Premier League win to move up to sixth place ahead of Tottenham on goal difference and with a game in hand.
“I liked the performance a lot," said Klopp. "Parts of the first half we were exceptional. We made one mistake and they scored a great goal, what a screamer. But we stayed calm and scored our screamer.
“Second half I liked as well. We had to dig in deep because of the physicality of West Ham. I would have liked the game if it was a draw. We won so that makes it the perfect night for us.”
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Liverpool's late season revival gives them an outside chance of challenging the top four, though a fifth-placed finish and Europa League football would seem a more realistic prospect.
Klopp said Liverpool must go about their pre-season differently this summer as they look to improve on what has been an often frustrating campaign.
The German voiced regrets about last summer, saying a trip to Asia came too early during preparations for this season, with the squad flying to Bangkok only a month after the Champions League final brought to an end a 63-match campaign that saw the Reds come to within a few games of winning an unprecedented four trophies.
No plans for this summer have yet been confirmed by the club, but it has been reported that a possible trip to the United States has been axed with a single fixture in Singapore preferred.
“We have to plan [pre-season] early and usually you have to plan without the Champions League final because that doesn’t happen constantly, you just have to deal with it,” he said. “And that is what we did [last summer], we dealt with it.
“But then we started in Hong Kong and pretty much playing immediately because we had to and then the boys came back step by step by step. It was never a perfect pre-season but that is not the reason for our season now because before that we had similar pre-seasons.
“But this year must be different. We have now already three, four, five weeks without [European] football. Usually you play all the time. Now we play a lot – I actually have no clue where they would have put in the Champions League games [if we had got through].
“But it’s different and that’s why we have to step up. We have to prepare that in the pre-season and that’s why I want them [the players] back together as quick as somehow possible, respecting the necessity of holidays.”
Liverpool’s season will end on May 28 with their final Premier League fixture away to relegation-battling Southampton.
The first players are due back for pre-season on July 8, with those who have been in international action reporting on July 11.
