Aston Villa Slammed For $150M Whining -But Blame Lies With Klopp

Aston Villa knew it needed to win at Old Trafford to stand any chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

As far as end-of-season assignments went, this was not a trip that would have provided much trepidation for Unai Emery’s side.

Manchester United has been rotten all season and had weary legs from a demoralising defeat in the Europa League final just days earlier.

But inexplicably, Villa contrived to lose the game, thanks in no small part to goalkeeper Emi Martinez’s sending off in the first half for a bizarre body-check on Rasmus Hojlund.

The Red Devils deserved to win what was a drab contest.

However, in the aftermath of defeat, the club showed no public signs of introspection and instead zeroed in on a refereeing mistake that denied the Villains a goal.

Manchester United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir was going to ground to collect the ball when he fumbled, allowing Morgan Rogers to nip in and score what Villa believed would have proved to be a crucial goal.

However, referee Thomas Bramall blew his whistle, on the reasonable basis that, from his angle, Bayindir had two hands on the ball, which, by the laws of soccer, would mean Rogers had committed a foul.

The official’s decision to stop play meant the Video Assistant couldn’t intervene despite replays subsequently showing in slow motion how Bayindir’s fingers on one hand were, in fact, inches away from the ball.

It was an incorrect decision, that was irrefutable, but to suggest that blowing the whistle was anything other than an honest mistake any referee could have made is ridiculous.

Nevertheless, it quickly became clear postgame that Villa had decided upon both a narrative and a scapegoat.

In the Birmingham club’s post-match news conference, director of football operations Damian Vidagany highlighted 35-year-old Bramall’s age and experience, claiming it was wrong for him to have been given such an important game.

“We are going to send a complaint,” Vidagany said.

“The complaint is not about the decision, it is about the selection of the referee – one of the most inexperienced referees in the Premier League.

“It’s not about the decision, clearly it was a mistake. The complaint is about the referee. The problem is why the international referees were not here today.”

Vidagany kept his word, and the club submitted a letter to the Professional Game Match Officials Board [PGMOL], doubling down on the point with drama.

“Of the 10 referees to officiate across the Premier League today, Mr Bramall was the second least experienced,” the club wrote.

“The decision to disallow Morgan Rogers’ goal, which would have given the club a 1-0 lead with 17 minutes remaining in the match, was a major contributing factor to the club not qualifying for the Champions League.

“We acknowledge the outcome will not change, but we believe it is important to address the selection methodology to ensure high-stakes matches are treated as such with regards to officiating and to ensure the implemented VAR technology is allowed to be effective.”

Condensing a whole season’s worth of reasons for why Aston Villa hasn’t qualified for Europe’s top competition into one ‘major contributing factor’ is clearly ludicrous.

But it was highly effective in determining the media narrative in the aftermath.

There was a far greater furore around this split-second error, which any right-minded person should recognise had nothing to do with age or experience, than on Aston Villa failing to beat the worst Manchester United side in living memory.

Take former player turned pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor’s stunt on sports radio station Talk Sport. The ex-Villa striker wrote his own letter to the officiating body in response to the decision.

“For the attention of the PGMOL and [its boss] Howard Webb. Not only have you cost Aston Villa [$150million], you have cost us in our battle with PSR. The same battle that we have every season,” he wrote.

“You have also destroyed Aston Villa’s chance to play Champions League football again. Which would attract bigger talent and help us keep our better players.

How Klopp Poisoned The Debate

Hysterical focus on referees and decisions is not a new phenomenon; ever since officials have made errors, a crazed fan has wailed about a conspiracy.

What has changed, however, is the wild echo chamber within the modern media ecosystem, which, through clips shared millions of times on social platforms, transforms a marginal call into a ‘disgraceful error’ costing millions.

That exists regardless of the actions of clubs, players or coaches. But what certainly doesn’t make it any better is a club singling out a referee personally for criticism.

As Villa points out in its statement, complaining doesn’t change anything, so why attack the official publicy other than to scapegoat him?

If the Birmingham team were the first to act in such a manner, that would be one thing.

But the truth is that this pattern of behaviour, I would argue, began with Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool’s actions after a goal was wrongly chalked off against Tottenham Hotspur in 2023 due to a horrendous VAR mix-up.

Rather than fuming about the decision in the moment and then letting it go, they decided to escalate things.

Klopp called for a replay while the club released a bizarre statement about the “sporting integrity being undermined,” which concluded with the threatening line: “We will explore the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution.”

That statement proved something of a catalyst in the public trashing of the refereeing body.

Weeks later, when Arsenal lost to a controversial Newcastle United goal, they decided to release an official line, hammering the PGMOL

“PGMOL urgently needs to address the standard of officiating and focus on action which moves us all on from retrospective analysis, attempted explanations and apologies,” it said.

Let’s be honest. This is pathetic behaviour.

These soccer clubs are businesses worth billions, with the infrastructure and strategies expected of such corporate behemoths.

Every public statement is endlessly combed over by layers of management, which means there is little doubt that these attacks on referees or their governing body are highly calculated.

They gain very little from attacking referees. In fact, the only consequence is that it creates the false perception that the game is poorly officiated, which it almost overwhelmingly isn’t. That damages everyone in the long run because it causes people to lose faith.

As Jonathan Wilson stated on The Guardian Football Weekly podcast, the referee’s age or experience has nothing to do with Villa’s failure.

“It’s just pathetic. Grow up,” he said

“That’s not why Villa aren’t in the Champions League, they aren’t in the Champions League because they haven’t won enough games. They haven’t beaten a terrible Manchester United.”