Gary Neville questioned 'strange' David Coote VAR decision ahead of Liverpool game

Gary Neville questioned a decision to take David Coote off VAR duty for a Liverpool match in 2020 — the same year he was criticized by Jurgen Klopp on multiple occasions.

It was announced in November 2020 that Coote would not be the VAR for a game between Liverpool and Leicester, which was scheduled to take place just two days later.

Andre Marriner replaced Coote as the VAR for the match, which Liverpool won 3-0, and Coote was instead tasked with refereeing a match between Manchester United and West Brom.

The game between Liverpool and Leicester came a few weeks after Coote was criticized for his performance as the VAR during a draw between Liverpool and Everton at Goodison Park, when Virgil van Dijk sustained a season-ending knee injury after a reckless challenge by Jordan Pickford.

• David Coote must never referee Liverpool again after shocking leaked video

• David Coote overturned 5 VAR decisions in Liverpool matches including handball incident

Pickford escaped any sort of punishment for the challenge, which match referee Michael Oliver would say several months later was worthy of a red card, and Liverpool was reported to be confused by the VAR decisions on the day, with Jurgen Klopp criticizing the decisions after the match. "Michael Oliver is an excellent referee but he had the best view," Klopp said. "Then VAR [Coote] forgets the rules."

Klopp was also critical of Coote's performance when he refereed a 1-1 draw between Liverpool and Burnley just months earlier, in July 2020. Liverpool was on a 24-match winning run at Anfield heading into the game and had been confirmed as Premier League champions several weeks prior to the match.

Andy Robertson scored for the Reds in the first half but Jay Rodriguez equalized for Burnley in the second half, and Klopp was critical of Coote's performance in a post-match TV interview.

“The referee let lots of challenges go so it was clear that if the ball comes into the box it was dangerous," Klopp said. "We were angry with the referee but we have to criticize ourselves first for not finishing the game."

No reason was given for Coote being taken off VAR duty for the Liverpool vs Leicester match but he was not handed an officiating role for another Liverpool match in any capacity for seven months after the match in which Van Dijk got injured.

His next appearance as an official in a Liverpool match came in May 2021, when he was the fourth official for a match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Old Trafford, which Liverpool won 4-2.

Incidentally, Coote did not appear as the VAR for a Liverpool match for two years and 11 months after the Everton vs Liverpool match, while he had to wait until March this year to be the on-field referee for another Premier League match involving Liverpool, when he took charge of the Reds' 2-1 win over Brighton in March.