Ryan Rosenblatt, Fox Sports, February 2, 2017
EXCERPTS FROM THE ARTICLE:
"The United States men’s national team rarely plays on turf, and it’s almost unheard of at this point for them to choose to play on turf."
“U.S. players have been pretty clear on their preference to play on grass. While not all hate playing on artificial surfaces, they’ve made it clear that they prefer natural surfaces.”
“Former U.S. manager Jurgen Klinsmann especially hated [synthetic] turf and did most everything in his power to keep his team from playing on it. Even new U.S. boss Bruce Arena has been critical of the surfaces before.”
“ 'They are disasters,' Arena told the Washington Post when asked about MLS’s [synthetic] turf surfaces in 2013. ‘The only one that is somewhat acceptable is Portland. The others are all terrible. Seattle is bad. Vancouver is probably the worst. And New England isn’t good.’ “