Harry Kane has revealed he warned his England teammates about the dismal state of Germany’s pitches before Euro 2024 began, having been shocked by the standard of surfaces in the Bundesliga last season.
Several England players and manager Gareth Southgate complained about the quality of the pitch at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park following the 1-1 group stage draw with Denmark last month, with substitute Jarrod Bowen believing he was fortunate to avoid serious injury after twisting his ankle in the turf soon after coming on.
There have also been concerns about the pitch at the Düsseldorf Arena, where England meet Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Saturday. The surface at the venue, home to Fortuna Dusseldorf, was relaid twice following the end of the club season, only for Uefa to order a third after deeming it unsatisfactory during an inspection on the eve of the tournament.
Kane, however, says that the issue is not new this summer, having noticed a considerable drop-off from Premier League standards when swapping Tottenham for Bayern Munich last summer.
“It was something I spoke to the guys here about before the tournament because I experienced very similar in the Bundesliga,” the England captain said. “Coming from the Premier League, that was probably one of the surprises I had with Bayern last season, the standard of the pitches.
“Ultimately, that’s out of my hands. It’s not digging anyone out, everyone’s trying to do their best job, the groundsmen are trying to do their best job possible. For one reason or other they’re not quite up to the quality we see in different competitions or different leagues.
“From our point of view, it’s not an excuse because everyone has to deal with it. But that is just the reality of this tournament.”
Kane also believes that the poor pitches may be one factor behind the significant drop-off in the number of goals scored this summer compared to at Euro 2020.
That tournament saw 142 goals scored at an average of 2.78 per game, but with just seven matches left at Euro 2024, there have been only 100 goals, 0.51 fewer per match.
“I think teams are getting better and the standard of teams is getting more organised, defensively their structure is getting better,” said Kane, who has two goals in four matches so far.
“Every team in this Euros is coached by a good coach who are well drilled and know how to make it difficult.
“Also, I’d say the pitches haven’t been ideal. That makes a big difference because it slows the game down in terms of being able to move the ball quick.
“So, for the better teams that hampers them a bit and there’s different variables and that’s all the different stuff you have to cope with as you go through a tournament and each tournament is different.”
