Man Utd boss Solskjaer reveals he left Pogba at home due to concerns over plastic pitch ahead of AZ Alkmaar clash
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OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER is stunned Manchester United will have to play on an Astroturf pitch at the start of October in Holland.
The Red Devils take on AZ Alkmaar at the ADO Stadium in Den Haag on Thursday night in the Europa League.
And Man Utd boss Solskjaer was quick to call it one of the worst surfaces he has seen.
The Norwegian boss said: “I'm surprised they've chosen to play on this pitch.
“I'm used to Astroturf pitches in Norway but this is not the best I've seen. It's one of the worst ones I've seen for a long while.
“We've all got standards back home in Norway and are all modern. It seems like it's been used a lot.
“I'm surprised that in this climate you have to use Astroturf.
"It's OK when you live in the North Pole like we more or less do in Norway and can't play in March, November or December but here I'm surprised
“If I was running a club down here I wouldn't have an Astroturf pitch.”
LAZY PLAYERS
Solskjaer believes the surface could make the players lazy and lose concentration.
He said: “You can become lazy in your head because the ball is going to get there anyway.
“It's impossible to make a misplaced pass, and you can’t complain about a bad pitch.”
MORE MAN UTD STORIES
Now Paul Pogba is set to miss out on the game with a recurrence of his ankle injury.
The French star arrived at Carrington earlier on Wednesday for scans on the knock and will miss the European clash.
But that may well be a blessing in disguise for Man Utd - who historically have fared better when Pogba has been missing.
