Arsenal boss Renee Slegers calls for improved pitch standards in women's football after Real Madrid defeat, echoing Ian Wright's criticism of "disgraceful" playing conditions.
Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in their Women's Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano on Tuesday, where deteriorating pitch conditions hampered play for both teams.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright didn't hold back in his assessment, posting a video on social media during the match to express his frustration. "Watching the Champions League quarter-final. Real Madrid's pitch - this is worse than Derby's pitch the other day in the Conti Cup final," Wright said. "This is a disgrace the pitches these girls have to play on."
The poor playing surface, worsened by heavy rainfall, became a focal point of discussion rather than the quality of play. Lucy Ward, former Leeds striker and TNT Sports commentator, observed during the broadcast: "I'm watching players who usually deal with the ball well, struggle to come to terms with it in these first 10 minutes. This pitch is awful."
Slegers, who was appointed permanent Arsenal head coach in January, acknowledged the conditions affected her team's performance. "We knew the condition of the pitch. We spoke about it with the players before the game," she explained. "So we had a plan for it, but then it's always hard because over a season and over time you work on things and you have an identity, the way you want to do things. So then reality comes and these conditions come and all of a sudden you need to do things differently so that's hard."
When asked whether the match should have been played at Real Madrid's main Bernabeu stadium instead, Slegers was diplomatic: "It's not on me to criticise. It's obviously a club decision and I'm sure that Uefa is trying to create the best conditions for the tournament. Of course, the weather is not always in our control. But I think we've seen a couple of games lately where the pitch conditions haven't been great and I think that's the next step for women's football to take."
This criticism follows complaints from Chelsea players about the pitch at Derby County's Pride Park during last Saturday's Women's League Cup final. Chelsea midfielder Erin Cuthbert stated the surface was "not fit for a final" after her team defeated Manchester City 2-1.
Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor added: "I'm not sure if it was a men's final game it would be the same. We just need to make sure we have the best facilities and grass to play the games."
Former England striker Ellen White emphasized the importance of improving pitch standards on BBC Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly podcast: "We've seen the men's League Cup final at Wembley, and I'm not saying it has to be at Wembley, but I just think to keep growing our game and the standards you know [we need to] keep hammering that home that I think it needs to be better, it needs to be looked at."
Unlike the men's League Cup final, which is consistently held at Wembley Stadium, the women's competition has no permanent home, with organizers preferring to host the event in different parts of the country.
Former Arsenal defender Jen Beattie, also speaking on the Women's Football Weekly podcast, expressed frustration that pitch conditions overshadowed the actual game: "Ultimately, we're trying to get the best product of football, it's a huge game, two great footballing teams and you want it to be a good spectacle to watch. I still enjoyed watching it, don't get me wrong, but it's hard when the conversation after the game is about the pitch, and not about the players and highlighting the performances and how good they are as players, that was the frustration for me."
Arsenal will host the return leg against Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium on March 26, where they'll hope for both better conditions and a result that overturns their first-leg deficit.
