With a capacity of 32,944, Pride Park is the largest stadium that has ever organized a final of the Women’s League Cup.
Chelsea’s captain, Millie Bright, said the players “are really fortunate” to play in such a place, but agreed that the launch was not up to the height of an important final.
“It’s an incredible stadium, but when you get to a final, you expect much more quality of the field,” he said.
“It is disappointing, it is a massive game, a mass of the mass cup and, as you can see in the state of the field, I suppose it was not seen too well on television. It also interrupts the game a bit.”
Saturday’s game was the first of the four games in 12 days between both sides, with two quarter -final ties of the Champions League and a WSL meeting.
Nick Cushing, who took the interim position of Manchester City on Monday after Gareth Taylor was fired, agreed that the field condition was not ideal.
“I would like the launch to be a little better,” he said. “It is what it is.”
Former England player Rachel Brown-Finnis, Fara Williams and Ellen White felt that the launch played a role in the type of football that could be played.
Williams said: “There is a real bobble, the field is really cutting.
“It is not a great quality for the football we want to see.
“But Chelsea played the conditions. We talked about the field, Chelsea used it for her advantage. They didn’t play enough football but they adapted.”
The former Brown-Finnis goalkeeper was even more scathing, saying: “The launch looks quite poor and is not appropriate by a final of the Women’s League Cup.
“There is a lot of sand in this field.”
