It’s pretty cold up in Ontario in March, perhaps someone should have told D.C. United that?

Following D.C. 1-0 defeat to Toronto FC last Saturday, courtesy of Jermain Defoe’s predatory strike, the Black and Red are complaining about the field conditions at a frigid BMO Field.

MLSsoccer.com’s Pablo Maurer posted the following story on the league’s site on Tuesday, after speaking with D.C. United’s players after training. Designated Player Eddie Johnson led the cries of disbelief towards Toronto’s field, as the U.S. national team star was, well, displeased with the playing conditions.

“The field was crap,” Johnson said. “Absolute crap. As much as that team is ambitious, with the acquisitions they’ve made, you feel like the field would be in much better shape than that.” D.C.’s newly acquired forward Fabian Espindola wasn’t too impressed either. “It was a disaster,” Espindola said. “An absolute disaster. There were holes, chunks of grass missing. It was as bad as any field I’ve ever played on.”

Is that an over exaggeration?

Many would argue that playing outdoors in March in temperatures hovering around freezing is risky, especially given the remarkably cold winter they’ve had in the Northern states of the U.S. and over the border in Ontario. Winters as harsh as the one we’ve hopefully just seen the end of in North America will obviously damage the grass. We saw that on Saturday, as large chunks were lifting and patches of dead grass were obviously being ripped and affecting the play, as both teams couldn’t knock the ball around on the floor.

In previous seasons Toronto have ditched BMO Field and played indoors at the Rogers Centre, as they did when facing off against LA in earlier march during the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF Champions League clash back in 2012. Last season Toronto were handed a March 9 fixture against Sporting KC, and once again they played indoors at the Rogers Centre, but they then returned to play outside on March 20 against LA Galaxy in a 2-2 draw. So, does that one week make a difference when it comes to temperatures in Ontario?

Last Saturday against D.C. the high was a balmy 38 degrees, while the mercury dropped to 18 later that night. Next week the temperatures are set to rise to the high 40’s and then continue to climb into the 50’s. With MLS scheduling a mid-March game outside in Toronto, one of the only factors I can think of for letting the game get the go-ahead, is that they wanted to welcome Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley and Julio Cesar in style to a sell-out crowd at the franchises home stadium, rather than some indoor venue not affiliated to the club.

Yes, the pitch conditions weren’t great, but that’s the price you pay for having a franchise based in a region prone to extreme winter weather. D.C. and all the other teams know that when they agree to play in MLS. That said, I’d expect to see Toronto’s field undergo some serious work in the next few weeks and months as the thermometers soar in Toronto and the deep freeze thaws.

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