Grass length was the reason for Saturday's dull scoreless draw when Swansea City visited Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, according to The Swans' manager Garry Monk.
"The pitch wasn’t cut to the length we have ours cut to,” Monk told reporters per the Guardian. “It wasn’t as conducive to playing flowing football as we’re used to. It was also very soft and the ball flicked up off the top surface.
“I’m not saying that’s the reason we didn’t play well but the grass obviously contributed. There’s a regulation maximum length but that was probably at the highest level. It’s no excuse though. We’ve had much worse, we’ve trained on cow fields in the past and still played good football.”
Maybe Monk's standards have been raised since his team's impressive start to the season. They sit fifth in the Premier League table after capturing 10 points following their opening six matches.
His counterpart, however, acts as though grass length isn't a concern as Sunderland manager Gus Poyet tiptoed around the issue.
“I don’t have a clue about grass-cutting,” Poyet said.
Sometimes it's just hard to accept the fact that the match was, simply put, boring.
Swansea will have the honour of hosting their next match at the Liberty Stadium, where the grass is presumably cut to perfection, when they play Newcastle United next week.