I have heard a lot of people in the press in recent weeks talking about the fact that England must go and play their European Qualifier against Russia on an artificial surface. Many people are saying that it will affect the England players but in my view that a load of b*llocks. I have trained and played matches on astro-turf before and frankly there is no difference. Obviously the surface should probably not be used in this day and age but thats the way it is.Obviously players are forced to change their footwear and such but they are bloody professionals and I'm sure they have trained on this kind of surface before. My view, is that the English media and other people who are raising this debate are looking for excuses before the game even begins. They are raising the issue in case England lose.
If England are to win on Wednesday, nothing will be said about the surface, but if they were to lose all the papers in England and the team representatives will be using the pitch as an excuse. I'm sure the English players are fine playing on the surface and I'm also sure they will come away with a decent result, but I would just love the people who are making this excuse to shut up.
