According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Thomas Tuchel admitted his frustration with the poor condition of the Elland Road pitch as Chelsea drew to Leeds this afternoon.
The Premier League sides played out a goalless draw today, with both Tuchel’s men and Marcelo Bielsa’s creating their fair share of chances but neither side converting to spur towards victory.
Tuchel stated that it was ‘super hard’ to play on a pitch that wasn’t in ‘good condition’ like the one at Elland Road, adding that the matter was a ‘factor’ in the match.
The Yorkshire Evening Post report that Leeds spent £300,000 to relay the top surface of the pitch in January, with the Peacocks purchasing some hybrid turf from Tottenham Hotspur.
In the first few fixtures after this was done there were some issues, with players slipping over, as Jack Grealish noted whilst tuning into the match against Brighton, per Leeds Live.
Here is what Tuchel had to say on the matter:
“It is super hard to play on the pitch.”
“Very slippery and bouncy. It was not so nice to play and the pitch is not in good condition – this is a factor. We have to live with a draw.”
“I think it was a very difficult conditions but we accepted all difficulties.”
TalkSPORT also noticed that the matter left Leeds’ own Luke Ayling to play on the surface wearing Rugby boots, whilst it’s added Spurs had it available for sale due to a lack of NFL fixtures via Covid-19.
The Yorkshire Evening Post add that the pitch fared pretty well today, despite rainfall, with less slips, nonetheless Tuchel still noted the apparent problems and raised them after the match.
The Leeds Live report mentioned earlier states that the Peacocks intend to reconstruct their pitch this summer, it wasn’t done before the season due to the short time in between the campaigns.
Do you think that too much is being made of this apparent matter or should Leeds face some kind of action from the Premier League for failing to offer up the conditions that the rest of the division expect?