Poor pitch conditions irk Phoenix Rising
If you ask Phoenix Rising FC coach Rick Schantz, Orange County SC had a unique way to make getting away points difficult for Rising FC during their 1-1 draw in Irvine, California last Thursday.
By just having a pitch nearly impossible to play on. For the months and days leading up to Phoenix’s first away match and Orange County’s first match overall of the USL regular-season restart, a series of events resulted in Championship Soccer Stadium’s field becoming brown with burnt grass, stiff from dried soil and overall what Rising FC winger Solomon Asante wrote were pitch conditions that “wasn’t playable” in a Twitter post after the match.
And Schantz backed his captain right up with that sentiment.
“I don’t necessarily like when the players talk about the field, but it was really bad,” Schantz said in his weekly virtual press conference Tuesday afternoon. “I saw Solo’s tweet, and I called him and told him that I always support the captains. I’ll always support my players 100%.
(The field conditions) killed us. They had three or four just blind long balls that stayed in play.”
So, what happened at Orange County, and why wasn’t the club prepared to have adequate pitch conditions last week despite a four-month hiatus in play?
The situation dates back to mid-March, when COVID-19 first struck California. The rapid rise in cases in the state caused Gov. Gavin Newsom to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order, essentially shuttering the Orange County Great Park in Irvine where Championship Soccer Stadium is located.
For about three months, according to Schantz, the stadium grass wasn’t maintained and became disheveled, but it overall wasn’t in disrepair. Problems with the grass itself began once the club began using fertilizer to maintain it, which subsequently burned much of the field and made the ground hard underneath it — conditions that are detrimental to teams that play fast styles, like Rising FC.
Upon learning of the field’s status, Schantz said Phoenix requested that Orange County wet the field before the match to reduce the impact of the slow pitch. However, because the match was aired on ESPN2, Orange County painted the field green to create the appearance of well-maintained grass on national television, which further hinders ball roll and increased the firmness of the ground. Water couldn’t be used then, the club said to Schantz, because the paint would then wash off and get everywhere.
Orange County didn’t provide comment on Schantz’s quotes or if it would alter field conditions for Saturday if requested, but club President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Oliver Wyss did throw in a piece of his mind within the statement provided.
“We pride ourselves to do our talking on the field and not off it using trivial excuses,” Wyss said.
The combination of events created a situation that Schantz repeatedly said that he wasn’t using as an excuse, but he did remark that he thought the pitch hampered Phoenix’s efforts to secure three points on the road in Group B play.
Schantz even invoked the quality of the two pitches Rising FC train on at Casino Arizona Field, giving credit to the grounds crew for keeping them in tip-top shape despite brutal desert conditions. Hence why he was puzzled that Orange County, in much milder conditions, couldn’t do the same.
“The irony of this is hilarious,” Schantz said. “We have two of the best fields in the country I believe here in Phoenix. It’s 116 degrees and we can grow beautiful grass and keep them nice and soft all year long. You would hope that they’d get this sorted out. By no means is it an excuse, both teams have to play under the same circumstances. But it does impact us quite a bit when the game slows down.”
Whereas the first instance of Orange County’s field conditions may have been a lack of oversight, the next instance might be strategic.
Orange County doesn’t have to abide by requests from other clubs to alter its pitch conditions before matches. This becomes a larger ordeal when realizing that Orange County’s next home opponent, for 7 p.m. Saturday, is none other than Rising FC once again.
Considering Phoenix is the defending USL Championship regular season champions, it’s a group opponent of Orange County and all points gained are particularly critical in a shortened, 16-game season, Schantz doesn’t think anything is changing with the pitch for the rematch this weekend.
After all, he argues: If you’re in Orange County’s shoes, why would you change what works?
“Look, man. They probably got a result they’re happy with, and to be honest I think they felt like they probably played well,” Schantz said. “So even if we did put in that request, I wouldn’t expect them to change it. I’d be very naïve if I expected them to say ‘OK’ to the opponent. The ball will check up. It’s not going to be out of bounds like it would be at Casino Arizona Field.”