Wembley pitch to be replaced for 10th time

Published: 2:21PM GMT 06 Mar 2010

Poor condition: the Wembley representation has come in for augmenting critique Photo: GETTY IMAGES

The preference to shift the aspect once some-more was taken on Wednesday night after the England compare opposite Egypt, and the Football Association demand it is not a knee-jerk greeting to disastrous comments from Manchester United physical education instructor Sir Alex Ferguson and his Aston Villa reflection Martin O"Neill after the Carling Cup last last Sunday.

Ferguson claimed the representation played a piece in finale Michael Owen"s deteriorate after he suffered a injure leg tendon damage in the final, as well as withdrawal Wayne Rooney exposed to damage following dual overpowering games in 4 days on the energy-sapping surface.

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The Wembley belligerent staff battled tough opposite the elements to get the representation in great condition forward of the last and Wednesday"s England international, with 80 millimetres of sleet in the week heading up to the Carling Cup last and a serve 40mm the night prior to the game.

A Wembley orator said: "The belligerent staff did unequivocally well to theatre the Carling Cup notwithstanding conditions in the rave and in make make make use of of of the make make make use of of of of a metal cover to defense the representation from the sleet on Saturday night and Sunday prior to kick-off.

"They worked turn the time and could not have finished more. Conditions were improved forward of the England compare but the representation was still not great sufficient for the liking.

"A preference was finished on Wednesday night to reinstate the representation and this will take place this week end forward of Johnstone"s Paint Trophy (JPT) on Mar 28.

"Ultimately, this representation has not fared well by what has been an intensely oppressive winter and it needs to be replaced.

"This will be the 10th representation given opening but the track caters for football and non-football events so replacing the representation some-more than once during the march of a year is a being of a multi-purpose venue."

The make make make use of of of of Wembley as a multi-purpose locus manners out a seeded pitch, that football clubs use.

The orator added: "We used a opposite sort of pitch, sand-based soil, following the complaints after last year"s FA Cup semi-finals and this fared most improved in 2009 as per the assorted comments from managers around the FA Cup last and England matches.

"But, over the march of this winter and the weird continue last week, it right away needs to be replaced. It will take a integrate of days to take up the old territory and hope for the surface, a integrate of some-more days to put the new territory down and up to a week to bed in. This can be finished forward of the JPT."

Ferguson believed the state of the Wembley representation could have played a piece in Michael Owen"s ultimate injure leg tendon injury.

The Scot said: "He"s not had a lot of mins not long ago and that soft representation didn"t assistance him. It"s a bad blow for us."

O"Neill said: "It is unequivocally bad for a inhabitant stadium. There is unequivocally no forgive for it.

"The track costs �800 million to sort out and the one thing you"d think they"d get right would be the personification surface.

"I don"t know what the reason for it was but, deliberation it was a showpiece final, it was in unequivocally bad condition.

"It is bad in each aspect, sleazy on top, divots being taken out, you lose your footing. It looks similar to they had played 35 games on it the prior week.

"They"ve had copiousness of time to get it right. It has been up and using for a integrate of seasons.

"It was similar to they had a stone unison on it the night before. The stone unison boys would have complained about it!"

Villa midfielder James Milner said: "It was unequivocally formidable to fool around on. It was slippy, slicing up, and hopefully it can urge since it wasn"t good.

"You work as tough as you can to get in to a Wembley crater last and it is probably one of the misfortune pitches you have played on all season.

"It was worse than the integrate of lower-league teams" pitches we have played on, to be honest.

"Growing up and examination games at the old Wembley, everybody says it was similar to a carpet. In a crater final, you wish to be personification in a great stadium, that it is, on a great pitch.

"I"ve played there prior to so I knew what to expect.

"But the alternative thing is, it is the home of England and, for us as a team, you wish the most appropriate aspect probable and, at the moment, it is not utterly there."

Defender Carlos Cuellar added: "The representation was unequivocally bad. People were descending over all of the time.

"For a big final, it was unsatisfactory to fool around on a representation similar to that. If you come to Wembley, you design a great representation - but it had no change on the result."