Jürgen Klopp fumed at Anthony Taylor after Liverpool defeat as ref suffers UEFA demotion

A disallowed goal during Netherlands’ 0-0 draw with France certainly got Premier League fans active on social media on Friday evening. A shot from Xavi Simons was controversially ruled out for offside by Anthony Taylor’s assistant referee Adam Nunn. The decision was made due to Denzel Dumfries’ position ensuring French goalkeeper Mike Maignan was unable to make a save.

A lengthy VAR check from Stuart Attwell did not result in an overturn, leading some people to jokingly apologise on X (formerly Twitter) for inflicting English officials on the rest of continent during Euro 2024. Yet the call seemed a fair one, with Dumfries clearly interfering with play.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk didn’t see it that way. "We scored a goal that is a fair goal," he said after the match. "He [Maignan] had no chance to get into that corner. But yeah, the English referee decided to disallow it." The opinion of van Dijk’s former manager Jürgen Klopp on the decision is not known, but he has certainly voiced his displeasure at the official in question in the past.

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In fairness to Taylor, he was not Klopp’s least favourite. He famously once told Paul Tierney that he "has no problem with any referees, except you.” However, the German’s comments after Liverpool lost 3-1 at Arsenal in February suggested he was hardly a fan of Taylor either.

"A lot of things were against of us today," he said. "This referee gave me a red card against Man City for wrestling situation between Bernardo Silva and Mo Salah. Today, same situation with [Diogo] Jota but didn't get a red card.”

"It is unbelievable, then the of holding [Kai] Havertz on [Ibrahima] Konaté for the first yellow card,” Klopp continued. “Then Havertz goes down and the referee gives Konaté a yellow card. Gabriel [Magalhaes] does the same to [Darwin] Núñez and no yellow card."

If Klopp didn’t have a problem with Taylor after all of that, it would be remarkable to hear his true thoughts on Tierney. Premier League fans might have expected Taylor to be demoted by UEFA following his performance in the Netherlands-France clash, but according to the Daily Mail it is Craig Pawson who has just suffered that fate.

He was on the ‘First’ list but is going down a tier with John Brooks set to take his place. Liverpool supporters will likely be surprised to learn Taylor is on the ‘Elite’ list, along with Michael Oliver. That’s probably not where Klopp would put him, given the chance.

Liverpool.com says: It is understandable that Premier League fans have grown frustrated with the questionable decisions and lengthy VAR checks which seem to blight games every single weekend. Klopp is likely delighted such matters are no longer his concern.