Chelsea dumped sand on pitch to await Barcelona
-
JOSE MOURINHO faces a new turf war with arch-rivals Barcelona over ChelseaÂ’s controversial pitch.
Tons of sand were dumped on it on Wednesday — just a fortnight before the Champions League showdown.
MourinhoÂ’s Blues were accused of deliberately allowing their sandy, pot-holed surface to deteriorate before last seasonÂ’s bitter battle at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea also turned on the sprinklers before Frank Rijkaard took a training session with his Barca players on the pitch ahead of FebruaryÂ’s game.
On Wednesday, groundstaff with tractors got to work on the goalmouths and spread large amounts of sand all over the playing surface in a move that is bound to trigger suspicion in Spain.
Last season Barca claimed Chelsea were trying to knock them out of their stride by providing a poor playing surface.
Even Chelsea stars complained to Mourinho after suffering cuts because of the amount of sand being used.
The Sun Online
BARCELONA stars voiced their suspicions last season.
Left-back Silvinho said: “I heard they are making the condition of their pitch worse.”
Skipper Carles Puyol added: “You would have to ask Chelsea if it was done deliberately but it’s possible.”
But Blues boss Jose Mourinho said: “Only stupid people can think we are happy to have this pitch.” -
let the mind games begin.
-
aiya chelsea will still lose and get owned in nou camp
-
sounds fun -
Yeah, sounds funny... maybe mourinho wants to play beach football with BarceOriginally posted by kopiosatu:
sounds fun -
sure lose mah, got ronaldinho play beach football lehOriginally posted by zocoss:Yeah, sounds funny... maybe mourinho wants to play beach football with Barce -
Maybe they think he stayed too long in Europe already so forget how to play beach football liao...Originally posted by kopiosatu:sure lose mah, got ronaldinho play beach football leh -
http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=213679
the weird thing is that on chelsea website they state that they are giving the pitch a facelift while the sun report that they are destorying the pitch so which is the real news ? The Pitch Speak For Itself On Saturday -
Of course you are not expecting the chelsea website to say "Tons of sand were dumped on purpose to deteriorate the pitch and create pot-hole surface ahead of Barce arrival right?Originally posted by ghimpheng:http://www.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=213679
the weird thing is that on chelsea website they state that they are giving the pitch a facelift while the sun report that they are destorying the pitch so which is the real news ? The Pitch Speak For Itself On Saturday
They have to be more diplomatic mah...
-
half a billion pounds spent on players and they can't keep a pitch in good condition...
right.... -
lol you mean the chelsea news was used as a excuse to make the pitch surface poor so that barcelona can't play thier trademark pasing ?
let the pitch speak for itself next time when we see it -
I am saying, no club would want to say any bad things about themselves right even if its true... so that job must be left for the newspaper to do lor...
But i am not saying its true or not, cos only the chelsea people will know it themselves. After all, you can't blame some people for thinking if something fishy is happening right when this is not the first time its happening... and on the same opponent who are known to play better attacking football on the ground rather than high ball game...
And also the season just started about 1 1/2 months only, how bad can the field be. -
-
Watch adults find like kids..
-
Don't kick sand at us again
From ERIC BEAUCHAMP
October 07, 2006
BARCELONAÂ’S stars have slammed Jose Mourinho for ChelseaÂ’s sand pit of a pitch.
SunSport revealed yesterday how the Blues have sparked a turf war ahead of BarcaÂ’s visit on October 18.
Chelsea claim they are innocently maintaining their playing surface ahead of the Champions League clash.
But angry Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta reckons Mourinho is up to his old tricks again.
Iniesta said: “We know what Mourinho is like.
“If the game turns out the same as last year then it won’t bother us if he puts sand on the pitch.
“He can put whatever he wants on the pitch — it’s all the same to us.”
But midfield playmaker Xavi fears the dodgy grass could spell disaster for Barca.
The Spanish giants won 2-1 at sandy Stamford Bridge last year but only after Chelsea had Asier Del Horno sent off.
Xavi said: “This seems very bad for us because they play direct football and Barcelona have a passing game. This will benefit them but not us.
“We won at Stamford Bridge last year on the sand but only just. It wasn’t easy and it helped they were a man down.
“We prefer to have a good pitch and when they come to the Nou Camp we will water the surface, so we can play a fast passing game on the floor, the way we like.”
Barcelona legend Andoni Zubizarreta insists Chelsea have a responsibility to provide a perfect pitch for such a big game — so the teams do not end up playing beach football.
The former keeper added: “I don’t know what to say about this. I don’t know if it’s a question of problems with their pitch, if it’s been done for maintenance.
“But the biggest games, like this one will be in the Champions League, should be played in the best possible conditions that you can achieve with the pitch.
“It’s important to have a good pitch so both teams can play. But you have to make sure you perform no matter what the conditions are.”
Anna Revilla, of Barcelona’s hardcore London-based supporters group ‘Pena Blaugrana’, blasted: “I can’t believe they’ve put sand all over the pitch again!
“They did it last year and, even though it was raining before the game, they watered the pitch. It was really bad last year.
“Of course Mourinho is doing this to get at Barcelona. The Barcelona players pass the ball on the floor and if the pitch isn’t smooth it’s not good for us. All the Barca fans will be angry about this. Last year everyone was asking how the Chelsea pitch can be so bad when they have Abramovich and all his millions?
“Now they have put sand on the pitch again this year just when we are coming to play them again — that’s really bad!”
But a Chelsea spokesman last night insisted the sanding of the pitch was merely routine.
He said: “An 18-day break between home fixtures has allowed our groundstaff to carry out routine maintenance work on the pitch.
“The drainage system is being improved to ensure the pitch stays in top condition.
“The international break allows us to carry out this work towards our aim of maintaining our playing surface as one of the best in the league.
“Recent years have seen much investment going into it.” -
Heh!
chelsea's player can kick sand right into the opponent's eyes
sand will make opponent run slower
thats cheating! -
Its a double edged sword, both team players will run slower!!Originally posted by Dead_Man_Inc:Heh!
chelsea's player can kick sand right into the opponent's eyes
sand will make opponent run slower
thats cheating! -
Yes, its a double edged sword... but for Barcelona it would be a bigger disadvantage than Chelsea cos their games are mostly played more on the ground than in the air and their strength is their fast and accurate passing from player to player in quick succession but if the ground is uneven, this strength of theirs will be greatly compromise.Originally posted by sand king:Its a double edged sword, both team players will run slower!!
Not that chelsea are not good passer of the ball but if compare to Barce then they may be lacking... and also chelsea are better in the air to be fair... Drogba, shev, terry all consider good with high ball situation whereas ronaldinho, messi, deco, saviola... all these are rather short and small guys who play better on the ground but would not trouble chelsea in the air...
So the ground is one of the most important thing... it could play an important part to who wins the match or lose...
-
fifa did not say that u can't put sand into your own pitch
and anyway the best team win regardless on watever condition pitch they play on and i don't think chelsea are renewing thier pitch instead -
O.I.COriginally posted by zocoss:Yes, its a double edged sword... but for Barcelona it would be a bigger disadvantage than Chelsea cos their games are mostly played more on the ground than in the air and their strength is their fast and accurate passing from player to player in quick succession but if the ground is uneven, this strength of theirs will be greatly compromise.
Not that chelsea are not good passer of the ball but if compare to Barce then they may be lacking... and also chelsea are better in the air to be fair... Drogba, shev, terry all consider good with high ball situation whereas ronaldinho, messi, deco, saviola... all these are rather short and small guys who play better on the ground but would not trouble chelsea in the air...
So the ground is one of the most important thing... it could play an important part to who wins the match or lose... -
True, but if chelsea hope to gain respect they shall stop doin this kind of thing. Not keep complaining abt why so much ppl dislike chelsea. Lets just hope the dumping of sand is not true, really wish to see a fair game between barce n chelsea.Originally posted by ghimpheng:fifa did not say that u can't put sand into your own pitch
and anyway the best team win regardless on watever condition pitch they play on and i don't think chelsea are renewing thier pitch instead
-
Barc to win no matter what happened!
-
i hope so too and if u had notice chelsea player are mostly 1.8m tall and barcelona had quite a few players shorter than 1.8m and i think jose going to play long ball tatics using ballack and lampard to distrubute balls to drogba and sheva using thier height to dominate the air and hopefully head in some goals during set pieces and cornersOriginally posted by tarcki:True, but if chelsea hope to gain respect they shall stop doin this kind of thing. Not keep complaining abt why so much ppl dislike chelsea. Lets just hope the dumping of sand is not true, really wish to see a fair game between barce n chelsea. -
Well, your assessment is quite true, i think many people will also think that way too as chelsea have used this style of play in europe the last 1 or 2 yrs already knowing that quite a number of europe teams are not very comfortable in the air and the long ball to Drogba works...Originally posted by ghimpheng:i hope so too and if u had notice chelsea player are mostly 1.8m tall and barcelona had quite a few players shorter than 1.8m and i think jose going to play long ball tatics using ballack and lampard to distrubute balls to drogba and sheva using thier height to dominate the air and hopefully head in some goals during set pieces and corners
Therefore, having a smooth ground would not be to their advantage especially with a team like Barcelona...
But whatever reasons given, its not a decent thing to do in my opinion and it would only hurt chelsea's reputation further in europe... -
what if they are really giving the pitch a new facelift ? this means that the newspapers are bias against chelsea and assume that chelsea do all the "BAD" things and chelsea do play mix football of air and ground.Originally posted by zocoss:Well, your assessment is quite true, i think many people will also think that way too as chelsea have used this style of play in europe the last 1 or 2 yrs already knowing that quite a number of europe teams are not very comfortable in the air and the long ball to Drogba works...
Therefore, having a smooth ground would not be to their advantage especially with a team like Barcelona...
But whatever reasons given, its not a decent thing to do in my opinion and it would only hurt chelsea's reputation further in europe...
and beside u notice that cech usually pass the ball to defenders instead of kicking the ball upfield to the midfielders and strikers as they are assured possession by passing the ball to the defenders.
unless they are down by 1-0 and not much time left then they pump the ball from keeper/defenders.