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Hoddle blames London Stadium pitch for Hammers defeats

Glenn HoddleFormer England boss Glenn Hoddle has suggested on BT Sport that the size of the pitch at the London Stadium is a problem for West Ham and a reason why they are conceding so many goals at home.

“I think at home, the size of their pitch now is a problem,” Hoddle said on BT Sport.

“I think they conceded 26 goals all season last year, now they’re on 27 already and I think that extra size, the length and the width of that pitch is working against them and I think that’s a problem to them.

“They should have done that (change the pitch size) at the beginning of the season, I think they’ve got a cold on that one.

“I’ll be very surprised if they don’t change that for next season.”

However, as reported on Claret and Hugh before the pitch is now the regulation size set by the Premier League for all new grounds. At 7,140 square metres. That’s the same size as Watford’s Vicarage Road surface, West Brom’s Hawthorns pitch, Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium, Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, the pitches at both Old Trafford and the Etihad and Arsenal’s Emirates.

The Premier League want to standardise all pitches the same size over time and a change of pitch size at the London Stadium will not happen over the summer as Hoddle suggests.

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

6 comments on “Hoddle blames London Stadium pitch for Hammers defeats

  1. Thought this one had been laid to rest. In any case 27 goals compared to 26 with only a few games left doesn’t make the strongest case ( mind you it might look at lost worse if Scousers & Spuds rip us open like the other top sides have. There are other ways to explain our leaky defence & we have gone over them again & again in recent weeks on here.

  2. And here I was, mulling over why our season hasn’t bought champions league qualification, as we all expected, especially those with thick Poo, and I thought to myself “I wonder what Glen Hoddle thinks?”

  3. Maybe we can get Eillen Drewery to work on Andy Carroll while we are about it, nothing else seems to work if nothing else the thought of her laying hands on him may be enough to keep him fit…

  4. Unfortunately Glenn Hoddle is beyond stupid. As others have said on this post, this one has been done to death already and, sorry to say, the problem is due to the 11 guys in West Ham shirts standing on the pitch, not the grass under their feet, the stadium their in, or the weather over their heads. I guess they have to fill the vacuum but sometimes the commentators, particularly on BT, say some painfully dumb things and Glenn is one of the worst offenders. Still, its them that are making these excuses for us… I’m glad that we’re not responsible for this. Ho hum! Another day, another West Ham story…

  5. That small pitch at the Boleyn was stupid. FA rules state a pitch can be from 90 – 120m length by 45 – 90m wide. Make it the full 120 x 90m. That’ll tire everyone of the opposition out so that they can’t score against us. Why is the Premier League a law unto itself? Why can it not let everyone follow FA rules. The OS stadium is so big that 120 x 90m would fill it nicely & if players can handle that then buy some super black athletes who can sprint like Cheaters in the Kouyate vein. Yes, Glenn Hoddle is stupid just like his karmic debt sick jokes on the disabled. I think his brain is disabled, what a stupid thing to say about pitch sizes

  6. Please go away , Hoddle .

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