Well, the Premier League is back and it’s back with a bang. Ever since Liverpool’s game against Bournemouth on Friday night, I have been repeatedly chuckling to myself over the complete and utter ineptitude of the Video Assistant Referee system as used by the PGMOL. It is a point I bang on about repeatedly, but calling it VAR gives the sense that it is some sort of autonomous machine, whereas it’s really just the same useless fellas making mistakes on a weekly basis in the middle of the park. If you wanted me to be particularly picky, I might point out the fact that Michael Oliver, a well-known Newcastle United fan who has also been paid by the owners of Manchester City to referee well-paid matches in the United Arab Emirates in the past, shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near Liverpool matches, but then someone will doubtless accuse me of suggesting there’s some sort of conspiracy at play, so I’ll keep my counsel. Still, he isn’t very good at his job, if we’re all being honest.
I missed the Liverpool game, but you’ve gotta love how the first game of the season is an immediate VAR fail not even 15 mins in. And of course Michael Oliver was on VAR and couldn’t spot a blatant hand ball 😬
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren.co.uk) 16 August 2025 at 05:19
There was a time when I would have declared him to be the best referee in the country, but he hasn’t fallen off a cliff since then so much as he has gone leaping over one, head first. Not only did Oliver miss the blatant handball by the Bournemouth player in our match, the PGMOL then released a statement after the match saying that it had been deemed not a Denial of a Goal-Scoring Opportunity. Then, over the days that followed, a new story emerged to say that Oliver had been in such a rush to make the decision that he simply missed the second handball. These people are paid a not insignificant sum of money in order to officiate matches, yet they can’t even get their story straight about the exact manner in which they messed up. If you don’t find that really quite funny then I’m afraid that you’re simply taking life too seriously. Howard Webb, the former South Yorkshire Police officer who is in charge of the PGMOL nowadays, is well-versed in doing whatever is necessary to protect his own.
Our Defence Looks Shaky
There was an extent to which Florian Wirtz was always going to struggle to impose himself on the first ever Premier League match of his career. The German playmaker had never had to deal with the roughhousing that is common in the English top-flight, nor had he had to cope with what Premier League referees have to offer. Both things seemed to exasperate him at times, but he still played some lovely football. As he learns to accept that free-kicks will be hard to come by and his teammates grow used to exactly what he can do with a football, he’ll start to be the most important player on the pitch. There does seem to be an extent to which he isn’t tasked with helping out the defence, which is all well and good, but when the same thing can be said of Mohamed Salah, you can start to understand why we look vulnerable defensively. We weren’t helped by Ibrahima Konaté seemingly forgetting how to play football, whilst the exuberance of Milos Kerkez is certainly something that needs to be reined in.
Have to say, that Liverpool performance worried me.
Yes, great eventful win but they’re so open defensively.
You can’t win the league if you’re so vulnerable in defence.
A lot of improvement needed defensively.
#LIVBOU #LFC
— ReviewFootball (@reviewfootball.bsky.social) 15 August 2025 at 21:59
I was slightly perturbed by the manager’s conversation with Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Kelly Cates after the game, in which he seemed to suggest that he didn’t have much of a problem with how the defence worked against Crystal Palace. Yes, it isn’t getting a huge amount of help from the midfield, especially in the absence of Ryan Gravenberch, but we still looked at sixes and sevens at times. If Slot is genuinely ok with that, considering the fact that title wins tend to be built on the shoulders of the defence, then I’m not entirely convinced that we’ll be able to defend our crown this time around. That being said, it is entirely possible that he is saying one thing publicly and something entirely different behind the scenes, but the seeming lack of urgency to address the issues that we’ve had at the back throughout pre-season is something that concerns me. We look brilliant going forward, but those of us that remember the 2013-2014 season will be all too aware of the fact that leaky defences don’t win titles.
City Look More Convincing Than Arsenal
To some extent, any team can go to Old Trafford and underperform. As Liverpool fans, we’ve grown used to seeing the Reds do exactly that, notching up only a few wins at the home of the old enemy in recent times. With that in mind, it probably won’t be concerning Arsenal supporters too much that they didn’t look overly impressive against Manchester United on Sunday. That being said, they really weren’t all that, with the Altay Bayindir error to thank for their win. United, meanwhile, managed to get 22 shots away against the Gunners, which is something that didn’t happen all that often last season. Mikel Arteta has a long way to go before he’s able to prove that he’s a serious manager that is capable of taking his team to the dizzying heights of a title win, rather than just some weirdo who bangs on about lightbulbs and gets pickpockets to steal stuff from his players. Maybe Sunday was a sign that he’s willing to relinquish the control he was obsessed with last season.
Arsenal have lost none of their last 22 Premier League matches against the Big Six (W13 D9).
This is the longest unbeaten run any team has managed against the collective opposition of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd & Spurs in Premier League history.
#MUNARS
— Orbinho (@orbinho.bsky.social) 18 August 2025 at 20:28
Pep Guardiola is the man that taught Arteta all about the need to control football matches, so it is perhaps not all that surprising that Manchester City were able to do exactly that in their game against Wolverhampton Wanderers. We all continue to wait for the result of the investigation into their 130 charges of financial misconduct, whilst those in a position of power keep telling us to be patient. Perhaps I’m being naive in truly thinking that something will happen before the end of the season, or maybe it’s just wishful thinking. City looked decent against Wolves, albeit whilst conceding nine shots and only having one more shot on target than the hosts. Tijjani Reijnders looks like the real deal, sadly, and the machine-tooled Erling Haaland doesn’t appear to be showing any sign of relinquishing his goalscoring prowess. My main school of thought is that the Club World Cup is likely to have an impact on their season, so what Liverpool need to do for now is just stay within touching distance of the top.
