“The match was ruined”: Thomas Frank rages at VAR calls after Spurs defeat

A visibly irritated Thomas Frank criticised two VAR-related calls that he felt tilted Saturday night’s chaotic 2–1 defeat in Liverpool’s favour.

Tottenham ended the match with nine players after Cristian Romero was sent off while they chased a stoppage-time equaliser. However, it was the earlier dismissal of Xavi Simons that angered Frank most. Simons had initially been booked for a late challenge on Virgil van Dijk, but the decision was upgraded to a red card after VAR replayed the incident in slow motion. Frank reacted furiously on the touchline and later argued that referee John Brooks should have stuck with his original call. Speaking to the BBC, he said he disliked that type of red card, insisting the tackle was neither reckless nor delivered with excessive force, and that the referee’s on-field judgment of a yellow should have been respected.

At his press conference, Frank softened his claim that the sending-off had “killed the game,” admitting that was probably overstated, but he remained clearly frustrated. He also felt the likely three-match suspension for Simons was excessive, saying such a punishment should be reserved for deliberate or wildly dangerous challenges, not one like this.

Frank was equally baffled that VAR failed to intervene when Hugo Ekitiké scored Liverpool’s decisive second goal, believing the striker had shoved Romero with both hands. He called it a major error, arguing that while referees can miss things in real time, VAR exists to correct exactly that kind of mistake.

Romero later picked up a second yellow card for kicking out during a scuffle with Ibrahima Konaté, and Frank felt officials could have managed that situation with more discretion, suggesting it did not warrant another booking given the context of the game.

Tottenham are now 13th in the table and have suffered a club-record 11 home league defeats in 2025. Despite that, Frank praised his players’ effort and resilience, saying he was proud of their mentality and how they coped with adversity.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot, meanwhile, was pleased to see his side draw level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea, though his mood was dampened by concerns over Alexander Isak. The Swedish forward scored shortly after coming on at half-time but was injured following a heavy challenge from Micky van de Ven and was unable to continue. Slot admitted he had no concrete update but said it was worrying that Isak did not attempt to return, though he stressed this was only his intuition, not a medical assessment.

Although the champions appear unlikely to defend their title, they have collected 11 points from their last five league matches. Slot acknowledged the performance was uneven, particularly late on, but emphasised that the team is still accumulating results. He added that while criticism earlier in the season may have been overblown, Liverpool are still a work in progress following summer changes that were always expected to take time to settle.