Ireland Captain Robbie Keane does not like AstroTurf

Robbie Keane claims even the best artificial surfaces in the world reduce the quality of football by 30% but doesn’t foresee the Major Soccer League resolving the problem.

Wed, 07 Jan, 2015 - 00:00

John Fallon

A long-time critic of “turf” since he arrived in the United States in 2011, the Ireland captain says the pitches need to be scrapped if the MLS is to prosper.

Another of the League’s marquee imports, Thierry Henry, favoured grass pitches to the extent he waited until his final game in November before finally bringing himself to play on New England Revolution’s Gillette Stadium astro surface in Massachusetts.

The commercial realties of American football dominating the stateside sporting psyche will ensure the current MLS Player of the Year Keane won’t have his wish granted.

For starters, Clint Dempsey’s Seattle Sounders share their CenturyLink Field pitch with Seattle Seahawks.

Keane’s former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard will have to encounter at least three clubs with artificial pitches when he joins the MLS next summer.

“Artificial are the worst pitches that you can possibly play on as a professional footballer in terms of injury and quality,” asserted the LA Galaxy skipper. “The quality easily goes down by 25 or 30%, It dries up as well. It’s like playing on this (points to wooden floor), with the ball bouncing up and down. When we used to play when we were kids, it’s that bounce where it would take three or four times to control a ball instead of just one.

“But there’s big business involved and you’ve got team like Seattle who play where the American football team do. There’s more money in the American football than MLS, so they’ll stay artificial for a while unless Seattle and Portland (Timbers) move to new stadiums. The MLS is going to get much bigger, especially with the new teams from Orlando and New York entering next season and the players that they’re bringing in. However, if the MLS wants to grow to be one of the biggest leagues in the world, they have to get rid of the artificial pitches.”