Pellegrini not happy with the pitch at TCF Stadium

[JamieMCFC]

Manuel Pellegrini has admitted he has concerns over the TFC Bank Stadium pitch ahead of tomorrow’s International Champions Cup game against Olympiacos.

A temporary grass surface has been laid over the all-weather pitch beneath but the turf is dry and patchy and not what the manager and players were expecting.

At the press conference in Minneapolis, Pellegrini said: “I think the pitch is not in a normal condition and I think it has a high risk for the players to get injured.

“I have the safety of all my players in mind regarding the possibility of injury so this will not affect my team selection. The condition also means it will be difficult to play good football.

“We played at Yankee Stadium against Liverpool and though the pitch wasn’t perfect, it was better and we had a good match. I’m sure there will be efforts to improve the pitch over the next 24 hours and I’m sure it will be watered, but there isn’t much time left.”

Pellegrini, who revealed David Silva and Samir Nasri should play a part against the Greek side tomorrow, added he is happy with the team’s overall progress during the US tour.

“I’ve been delighted with pre-season so far and I feel we have improved with each game we have played during our time in the USA,” he said.

“We have two weeks before the start of the Premier League and we are doing well. We are trying to get our team ready for the new season by giving them as many minutes on the pitch as possible as equally as we can.

“We are building towards our first game of the season and things are going really well.”

http://www.mcfc.com/News/Team-news/2014 ... ni-preview

[JamieMCFC]

Just a little background they are playing at the University of Minnesota (American) football stadium. It's artificial turf but for the match tomorrow they decided to lay grass over the turf. Some genius decided it would be a good idea to do this yesterday instead of earlier since we have months to get the pitch ready for this game. I have a couple of friends that were at training and the said the field is in horrible condition.

[Beefymcfc]

Fucking atrocious conditions and I'd be telling the lads to go at 60% max. Laying turf over a few plastic sheets is not the answer and they should've just painted the lines and played on astro if there was no other choice.

[sheblue]

If the pitch is shit and a cause for concern injury wise then the game should be played at walking pace.

[Ted Hughes]

I don't like this at all.

I remember ex England/Wales fast bowler Simon Jones getting his foot stuck in a pitch like this chasing down the ball & he was fucked for good afterwards.

[blues2win]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

[Slim]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

Nastasic last season for the very same reason.

[JamieMCFC]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

[Dameerto]

Safety first - if some dick tried laying turf a few days before the match he needs slapping with some rolled up news paper.

[Nigels Tackle]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

glad they're making the decision today
....with the game being tonight

[Slim]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

glad they're making the decision today
....with the game being tonight

Better than making it tomorrow.

[Nigels Tackle]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

glad they're making the decision today
....with the game being tonight

Better than making it tomorrow.

they should play tonight and then decide not to tomorrow

[phips]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

LvG is also complaining about the field in the Big House so I'm not sure moving it there would be any better. plus, what about all the people that bought tickets to watch it in Minnesota...

[Tokyo Blue]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

LvG is also complaining about the field in the Big House so I'm not sure moving it there would be any better. plus, what about all the people that bought tickets to watch it in Minnesota...

Their issue is with the fucking moron who decided you can lay a football pitch two days before the match.

[JamieMCFC]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

glad they're making the decision today
....with the game being tonight

I was half asleep when I wrote that. They have been working on the pitch since yesterday. It's just a tumor at this point that the match could be cancelled and moved.

[JamieMCFC]

Really we should refuse to play but I dare say the commercial men won't allow this. I'll be furious if we have any serious injuries.

What I'm hearing is both teams are refusing to play the game and it could be moved to Michigan. A decision will be made today. I do know we trained on it but Olympiacos refused. They actually trained at the university's women's soccer stadium (seats 1000).

LvG is also complaining about the field in the Big House so I'm not sure moving it there would be any better. plus, what about all the people that bought tickets to watch it in Minnesota...

If they did cancel they would just issue refunds. I wouldn't be one of them. My ticket was included with my season ticket for our local NASL team. They play right after.

[blues2win]

We may have to hang around for the Liverpool result to see whether we have to play on Monday. This tour has not been well planned. I'll be quite happy with a draw no injuries and a quick plane home so we can get everyone together for training on Monday, including Mangala I still hope!

[ruralblue]

What times the game start? Says 14.15 on OS GMT but presume they mean USA time.

Is it on sky sports?

Ta!!!!! X

[Nigels Tackle]

What times the game start? Says 14.15 on OS GMT but presume they mean USA time.

Is it on sky sports?

Ta!!!!! X

sky @ 8
xx

[ruralblue]

What times the game start? Says 14.15 on OS GMT but presume they mean USA time.

Is it on sky sports?

Ta!!!!! X

sky @ 8
xx

Cheers xxx