Officiating is getting worse under Howard Webb - What happened to Liverpool is a joke

Aldridge criticises refereeing after Liverpool's 1-0 home loss to Arsenal, claiming the club should have been awarded two penalties.

John Aldridge has criticised the standard of officiating in Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at home, arguing that the Reds were denied clear penalty decisions. Aldridge believes Liverpool should have been awarded two penalties during the match, describing the refereeing and VAR implementation as "a joke" and "inept".

The former Liverpool player also took aim at Arsenal's defensive tactics, describing their approach as "dark arts" and criticising players for going to ground too easily. However, Aldridge acknowledged that Liverpool did not deserve to win the match overall, but felt they were treated worse by the officials than Arsenal were.

Aldridge called for accountability at the top of English football's refereeing structure, specifically naming Howard Webb, the head of refereeing, and suggesting he should resign if he cannot improve standards. He argued that VAR has made the game worse rather than better since its introduction and that the current system is broken.