The Valladolid pitch, a thorn in the side for Tebas
Saturday's game in Valladolid has become a prickly matter for LaLiga right at a time when their aspirations are to take their product overseas in attempt to increase international awareness for the domestic game. The new pitch at Valladolid was in a dreadful state and has grabbed all the post game headlines. There existed the possibility to switch the game to Camp Nou but despite a VAR practice game on the Thursday, no-one would have predicted how poor the playing surface actually performed on the night. A solution now needs to be delivered as Saturday's forthcoming Rayo-Athletic has also been postponed due to safety issues at the Vallecas ground with both league and the newly promoted looking Rayo for solutions for the imminent home games. In the case of Valladolid, they simply failed to plan ahead adequately.
Pitch
Sadly, foresight was absent ahead of Saturday's game and a worldwide audience sat through a game where the state of the pitch became the focal point and not the talented individuals trying to play the game of football. Liga president Tebas is so set upon dominating the global market that he has even introduced mono-chromatic colour schemes on every stand with supporters flags not permitted to interfere with the television camera images. After the game on Saturday, there was no complaint from the match delegate, no word of the surface of play in the match officials report which is staggering when we all had to sit and watch the chunks of the pitch lift up creating a dangerous environment for the 22 players. It reminded me of the serious injury sustained by Maxi Rodriguez playing an international fixture at Murcia's La Condomina.
Setback
The incident comes at a bad time for Tebas after confirming that at least one league game per season will be played in the United State without consulting the Spanish FA or AFE who represent the players interests. After the match in Valladolid, Gerard Piqué was happy to use the state of the pitch as a motive to belittle the LaLiga USA initiative. In relation to this whole matter, Tebas has lacked a subtle approach (not for the first time) and the Valldolid episode coupled with the latest setback relating the Rayo Vallecano's stadium are major setbacks in his mission to ensure global domination for LaLiga.