Thomas Tuchel is not the sort of manager who is going to let a dodgy pitch get in the way of his plans, and he made that pretty clear when asked about the surface at the venue for England's upcoming friendly against New Zealand in Tampa. Reports had been circulating suggesting the pitch was in a less than ideal condition, but Tuchel was having none of it as an excuse or a reason to tinker with his selections.
Now on one hand you can absolutely respect that attitude. A manager who starts making decisions based on the state of the grass rather than who is actually playing well is a manager who is losing the plot a little. Tuchel is clearly trying to build some consistency and identity into this England setup, and constantly shifting things around based on external factors is not the way to do that.
On the other hand, you do have to wonder whether a friendly is really the moment to be completely rigid about everything. These games are supposed to give Tuchel the chance to look at players, try a few things, and generally get a feel for what he has available before the serious stuff starts. If the pitch is going to be a bog, it might not show certain players in the best light, and that feels worth at least acknowledging.
But in fairness to the German, he knows far more about what his squad needs right now than anyone sat watching from the outside. He will have a clear picture of which players he wants to assess and what he is trying to learn from this fixture. A bit of rough turf is hardly going to derail that entirely.
England friendlies can often feel like a bit of a non-event if we are being honest, but with Tuchel still in the relatively early stages of the job, there is genuine interest in seeing how his ideas are developing. Hopefully the pitch holds up enough for the game to actually tell us something useful.
Let me know your thoughts.