Of the many dangers that Premier League sides can face in the Europa League, a plastic pitch ranks among the biggest.
It’s an issue Manchester United will have to face when they travel to the Netherlands to take on AZ Alkmaar.
The Eredivise side are currently playing at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague after the roof at their ground, the AFAS Stadium, collapsed earlier this year.
The Kyocera has an artificial pitch and, according to the English media, that was causing some concern for Ole Gunnar Solskjær and his team, particularly given the number of injuries United have to deal with at present.
They claimed that the pitch was ‘the worst in Holland’ and that ADO Den Haag captain Aaron Meijers is on record complaining about it.
They say that ADO’s pitch isn’t the worst in the Netherlands, with it earning a 1.91 rating (out of five) in this year’s VVCS Fields Competition.
That means it’s the third-worst in the country, with Excelsior and FC Emmen scoring lower in the competition, and not the absolute worst that the British media were claiming.
That’s a bit of a weak defence and certainly not one that will have the English media scrambling to make an apology, but if we’re technical about this, then they are right.
It’ll come of no comfort to Manchester United of course, who are unlikely to take any pleasure from the fact they are only playing on the third worst pitch in the Netherlands.
This is not the first time the pitches in the country have faced criticism, with Ronald Koeman criticising them back in 2017.
“I like a real pitch, and there are plenty of them,” he told De Telegraaf.
“What I saw in the first weekend on artificial turf, it didn’t really look like the Eredivisie. I cannot take it seriously anymore.”
