Pep Guardiola is unhappy with the quality of one Premier League pitch, his own, at the Etihad, where the grass is 'not good.'
The Catalan coach says the club is doing their best to improve the quality of the grass on the Etihad pitch but he is not impressed.
🗣"The grass is not good"
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admitted he is not currently happy with the current state of the grass at the Etihad stadium pic.twitter.com/MkkfO9N1zK— Football Daily (@footballdaily) March 12, 2021
"They're working a lot, they are trying to find a solution but the grass is not good," said the City boss.
Guardiola says the players are aware of the issue but the contrast with other grounds is clear.
"All the players know how good the grass is and sometimes it is not. I know the weather conditions here in England are tough but there are stadiums where the grass is good."
Grass is greener on the other side of the City
If the City groundsmen were feeling the pressure, Guardiola rubbed further salt in their wounds as he claimed not-so-faraway grass was greener.
"We were in London against Arsenal, at Anfield, at Old Trafford and the grass was better.
"We were in Budapest in the Champions League and the grass was incredible, a red carpet, it was amazing - and our grass still is not good."
Despite the complaints, the surface has not affected City's form in the main at home with their loss to rivals Manchester United last weekend, a first defeat on the surface in the Premier League since late September.
City had won their previous nine consecutive home games so it has not been an impediment despite Guardiola's insistence the grass is 'not good.'
Manchester City bring their fourteen-point lead at the top of the Premier League to Craven Cottage on Saturday. The side with one of the last Premier League grounds to install undersoil heating, only putting the equipment in place in 2010.
While the next visiting team to experience the 'very bad' grass at the Etihad will be Borussia Monchengladbach. The Germans are on a miserable run of form having lost their last five games in a row in all competitions, including a 2-0 loss to City.
