Mud, lawn and plastic: anthology of the field
Think of a lawn where a high -level match is played out, there is a good chance that you can see a billiards, whatever the weather or the season.
The lawns have progressed so much in recent years that it is difficult to remember the fields of potatoes or sandy repair surfaces at will who pests the players not so long ago.The spectacular improvement of land has undoubtedly helped, moreover, to develop the game.
""""""""""""""""Today, we play a high level much more forward than 30 years ago, partly due to the ban on the pass to the goalkeeper, which was established in 1992, but largely becauseMassive improvement in lawns, """"""""""""""""wrote the former long -term coach of Manchester United, Alex Ferguson, in his book"""""""""""""""" Manager to win """""""""""""""".""""""""""""""""Players are evolving today on scenes conducive to performance.Therefore, I would say that players must run 15% more today than in the 1960s.""""""""""""""""
Jonathan Calderwood bichonne la pelouse du Parc des Princes©Getty ImagesDifficult to contradict Sir Alex.This will not be the case of Jonathan Calderwood, chief gardener of Paris Saint-Germain.After 25 years in football, he sees things in the same way.
""""""""""""""""À l'époque, tout ce que vous pouviez faire, c'était préparer la pelouse du mieux que vous pouviez"""""""""""""""", dit-il. """"""""""""""""La couper, la marquer et l'embellir au maximum et ça n'allait pas plus loin.Today, it must serve the players as much as possible and you have to give the coach the lawn he wants, whatever the style of play he applies.""""""""""""""""
""""""""""""""""We must ensure the speed of the lawn, watering, mowing height, flexibility, adhesion - to find out if players can slip...etc.The slightest defect can cost the club tens of millions.""""""""""""""""
De la boue au synthétique
This search for perfection of the field is a relatively new phenomenon.When Bill Shankly became coach of Liverpool, he asked the head of Anfield's lawn where the watering system was and he was told that there was no.At that time, clubs used braziers or flame throwers to thaw land.Another English club, Halifax Town, even reacted to the freezing winter of 1963 by opening its land to the public to make a rink.
The first experiences on synthetic surfaces date from the 1980s, when Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town entered history like the first elite football clubs to play on synthetic terrains in a lower European league.
Two minor league clubs, Oldham Athletic and Preston North End, even if, when Oldham was promoted with 2G synthetic grass land in 1991, the rules had changed and he had to return to natural lawn.Since the evolution has been immense.
Spartak - Sporting Portugal sur une pelouse artificielle en 2006©Getty ImagesUEFA launched its artificial lawn project in 2003 and three years later a first group's group game game of UEFA Champions League took place on Synthetic when the Spartak Moscow received Sporting Lisbon at the Stadion Luzhniki.A year later, Russia beat England 2-1 in this same stadium, in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers.
Nowadays, Andorra plays all his matches from European playoffs on a 3G lawn, at the Estadi Nacional, while through the continent of elaborate plastics are meeting more and more often on hybrid hybrid gaming surfaces.
At the Parc des Princes, in Paris, there is a hybrid lawn Desso Grassmaster®, which contains 3 % of synthetic fibers and thus offers more stability to the field.
""""""""""""""""Il y a 180 mm de fibres synthétiques sous la surface et 20 mm au-dessus de la surface"""""""""""""""", explique Calderwood. """"""""""""""""Chaque fibre mesure donc 200 mm de long, et des fibres sont placées tous les 2 cm.This system strengthens the terrain, the roots of the natural lawn growing around these synthetic fibers.
The part of the synthetic lawn seems low, but these plastic fibers represent a mass which is between six and seven tonnes.
Clubs continue to innovate concerning the maintenance of the lawn within the stadium infrastructure.In the new Tottenham stadium, there are three separate layers which can decamize under the stands and can give way to an artificial lawn NFL.The three layers can then resume their place without the lawn being damaged.
Règlement
Les joueurs de Birmingham City félicitent Bob Latchford (9) après un but par temps humide en 1972©Getty Images""""""""""""""""The maximum length of the land must be 200 yards (182.88m) and the width of 100 yards (91.44m).""""""""""""""""
This is how the dimensions of a regulatory football field were recorded in 1863 in the first version of the laws of the game.
This surprisingly vague provision authorized considerable variations between the land.An amendment brought in 1897 specified that the land had to be 91 to 119 meters long and a width of 46 to 91 meters, although greater precision is required for international matches, namely 101 to 110meters in length and 64 at 73 meters wide.
Today, UEFA competition regulations do not spare so much surprise, the land having to measure between 100 and 105 meters long and between 64 and 68 meters wide.
Other regulations are also in force to guarantee the holding and consistency of the lawn. La hauteur de coupe """"""""""""""""ne doit pas excéder, en principe, les 30 mm"""""""""""""""" dans tout match UEFA, et la hauteur de l'herbe doit être la même sur toute la pelouse.It is thus impossible to bet on long balls which would be hampered by higher grass near goals.
Des dispositions précises réglementent également l’arrosage des terrains : """"""""""""""""L’arrosage de la pelouse doit être uniforme et ne pas concerner uniquement certaines parties du terrain.In principle, watering the lawn should be finished 60 minutes before kick -off.However, by decision of the receiving club, watering can also take place after this period, provided that it takes place: (a) between 10 and 5 minutes before kick -off, and/or (b) during thehalf-time (the duration of the watering must not exceed 5 minutes) """""""""""""""".
""""""""""""""""Mes que un"""""""""""""""" pelouse
Johan Cruyff un maniaque des pelouses pour ses équipes©Getty ImagesAt FC Barcelona, watering the land is an integral part of the club's culture, just like the anthem. """"""""""""""""Lorsque Johan Cruyff entraînait Barcelone, il inspectait la pelouse la veille des matches avec un instrument mesurant le taux d'humidité. Il demandait même une hauteur de coupe particulière"""""""""""""""", se souvient Ferguson dans son livre.
Before the Champions League final in 1994 against AC Milan in Athens, the opposing coach, Fabio Capello, refused the request for watering the land addressed by the Catalan club.The logic of the Italian was clear: why offer the Dream Team a smooth surface area on which to develop his dangerously rapid football?
Indeed, watering the ground just before kick -off allows the ball to better fuse each rebound.At the time of Pep Guardiola, the lawn manager even entered the locker room at halftime, armed with the last weather forecasts, to consult the captain and a member of the technical staff on the watering time necessary for the break.
The tactics gets green
This brings us back to the considerations of Alex Ferguson on today's lawns.Their influence on the game is no doubt.
The speed and the quality of the land are an integral part of a show close to basketball that is offered to us at present, with matches marked by flash counterattacks.
Difficult to imagine the tiki-taka dear in Guardiola on the bumpy lawn of yesteryear or the pressing and the duplications of the side of Liverpool, on synthetic terrains of the 1980s where the high rebound of the ball could destabilize the most solid defenders.
The coaches continue to innovate with a preference for spaces and the offensive in the elite of European game.A penchant to which the constancy and reliability of the lawns are undoubtedly unrelated.While the technique continues to evolve, it will be fascinating to observe the effects of new lawns on this sport that we love so much.
Cet article est une adaptation d'un article original publié dans le n°167 d'""""""""""""""""UEFA Direct""""""""""""""""
