Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has attacked the condition of the pitch for his side's A-League fixture against Wellington Phoenix in Auckland, saying the match shouldn't have been played there.
The venue, QBE Stadium, was the main ground for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in June, but the field was resown after the end of the domestic rugby season.
The surface on Saturday was patchy, with sand covering the bare areas, and Muscat said it wasn't worthy of elite sport.
Muscat said he wasn't saying that because the Victory lost 2-0, adding "we weren't good enough".
"The last time I checked, grass is a pretty vital ingredient for a football game and unfortunately there was none there today," he said.
"If we analyse the football, that wasn't a good game. It was a contest, but it wasn't a good game of football from either team."
Muscat believed the players were put at risk because the difficulty in controlling ball invited tackles to be made.
Wellington coach Ernie Merrick had said earlier in the week that he had no issues with the surface and he repeated that view after the match.
"The pitch was fine," Merrick said.
"The ball rolled fairly well. It wasn't bumpy really. There wasn't enough grass on it but it was fine.
"You have to adapt to different situations. It was okay."
