Why is America so bad at making football, nee soccer, pitches? Now, Jude Bellingham says Club World Cup “pitches aren’t great”

They all add a disclaimer that it isn’t an excuse for not scoring goals or for losses, since both teams play on the same pitch. But the underwatered pitches are asking questions of USA’s preparedness to host the biggest spectacle next year. And alongside the bigger picture concern – is availability of water to maintain grass pitches, a massive hurdle on the horizon?

Bellingham who finished Real Madrid’s first match told Sky Sports, “The pitches aren’t great, honestly mate, I won’t say really that it’s hell for one (team). Maaan, it’s the same for everyone. I’m only saying because you asked me but the pitches aren’t great at all.”

Talking about the specifics he told Sky, “It holds up the ball, the way the body balances, it’s tough on knees as well. Hopefully they’ll look into that going into the World Cup next year. It’s important we protect the players and give those fans watching a spectacle and giving them great games as well.”

The USA pitches for cricket’s T20 World Cup were a disaster too, though the jamboree quickly wrapped up and headed off to the Caribbean that offers far better grounds, given their knowledge and history in cricket. Yet, BBC Sport had reported that powerhouse India had “privately voiced their unhappiness with the unpredictable bounce and two-paced nature of the strips in Eisenhower Park amid worries over the safety of their batters.”

Football is facing its own bumpy ride in the continent that calls the sport ‘soccer’, but is slated to host the biggest event, the FIFA World Cup next year.

Bellingham wasn’t the first, and won’t be the last to point at the pitches.

Goal.com had quoted Niklas Sule calling the pitch for Borussia Dortmund’s Club World Cup opener as “pretty terrible,” though he took added it was a was wrong to blame it as a “stupid excuse.”

The Dortmund defender told reporters after the game, “We were very, very weak with the ball. We were aiming for much better. No excuses about the conditions, even though the pitch was pretty terrible. The ball didn’t even bounce properly. But those are all such stupid excuses. It was simply far too little today. We have to blame ourselves for that to some extent. I still think everyone is up for this challenge. We simply have to bring more to the table for the second game and work on it. We’ve shown over the last month or two that we’re capable of playing better football – but that doesn’t count here anymore.”

His teammates Gregor Kobel and Pascal Gross had earlier joined Palmeiras’ Estevao in complaints of the MetLife Stadium’s playing surface, with the grass in New Jersey blamed for being sub-par. The New Jersey pitch that hosts the final mid July, is also hosting venue of the 2026 FIFA World Cup final. Estevao had been livid after Palmeiras’ scoreless draw against Portuguese side FC Porto.

The pitch is watered during the Club World Cup Group H match between Salzburg and Al Hilal in Washington. (AP)

“I think the pitch should have been watered a little more as the ball was a little slow which interferes with the pace of the game. It was both for ourselves and for Porto. As the game went on, it rained which made it roll a bit faster,” Estevao said on Sunday.

Dortmund goalkeeper Kobel noted later in the week that the grass was once again underwatered.

“It was a little bit dry,” he told the mixed zone reporters. “Of course, you can feel the turf beneath it, so the ball was not bouncing the way it usually bounces. It was a little bit soft, like, the ball didn’t really get the height it normally gets.”

Dortmund manager Niko Kovac told DAZN, “The pitch isn’t so easy for us.”

MetLife’s pitch for the Club World Cup was delivered via 23 truckloads from a farm 93 miles away from the stadium in Hammonton, N.J., and it will host eight total Club World Cup games this summer.

According to Goal.com, the pitch is installed over the regular synthetic turf playing surface that NFL franchises the New York Giants and New York Jets share.

Americans who might have the new age god of football, Lord Messi in their midst, however, haven’t quite gotten to grips with making football pitches. Blair Christiansen, the venue’s pitch manager for the Club World Cup this summer, told The Athletic that through multiple studies and numerous amounts of feedback, they believe they have the “grass for the future of FIFA” installed at MetLife.

As always, South American head coaches had the best, albeit most polite, takes on this US ineptitude. Palmeiras boss Abel Ferreira said the god of rains, salvaged the fixture against Porto whose boss Martin Anselmi didn’t hold back either. Ferreira calmly said,
“In the beginning, the pitch was dry. I don’t know who is the patron saint for rain but after it rained it then enabled us to play our game.”

History of bad pitches

The American bungling of pitches isn’t new. Last year’s Copa America were thought to be ominous for what could happen at the FIFA World Cup. But this year’s repeated complaints mean, lessons weren’t quite onboarded by Americans.

There might be a graver concern of possible water shortages in a really hot summer.

An overview of Audi Field stadium during the first half of the Club World Cup Group H match between Salzburg and Al Hilal in Washington. (AP)

At the Copa last year, according to ESPN, Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni was fuming about why the South American football confederation waited until 48 hours prior to the match to prepare the field.

“They knew seven months ago that we’d play here and they changed the field two days ago,” he was quoted as saying angrily at the post match news conference by ESPN. “It’s not an excuse, but this isn’t a good field. Sincerely, the field is not apt for these kinds of players. We gave not necessarily a good game, but a game according to the pitch and what the opponent proposed. We couldn’t do much more with the conditions of the pitch. Look at the speed of the passes that we did.”

Even the bratty goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, who is usually the biggest devil on the football pitch when he plays due to his brilliant antics, had sounded sullen about how the pitch was jumping up at him. “Very bumpy. We faced a strong Canada side on a pitch that was a disaster. It jumped on you as you ran. We must improve in this aspect — otherwise, Copa América will always appear at a lower level than the European Championship,” ESPN had quoted him.

The United States players themselves were frustrated. Midfielder Weston McKennie was quoted by ESPN as saying of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium: “I think what Martínez was saying was completely true. You’re playing on a football field, with laid grass that’s all patchy and it breaks up every step you take. It’s frustrating,”

Perhaps the wisest words were reserved for Peru manager Jorge Fossati who nailed the AT&T Stadium’s terrible field, right after it aggravated the Achilles injury of his player Luis Advíncula. Fossati might have also located the problem with the American way – artificial grass pretty popular in the States to patchwork front lawns so that they look pretty, but aren’t real, because the grass blades, “aren’t born.”

ESPN quoted Fossati as saying, “It (grass) came out of nowhere. I realize that this is a grass field today but it’s not normal grass. It’s not grass that’s born, and grows [naturally]. It’s a grass they bring in from elsewhere. That can be a bit of a harder surface and it can affect you in that exact place [the Achilles]. I’m not a doctor but I’ve been around football for a few years.”