Tottenham have received a massive blow ahead of the new season after the Premier League confirmed that they will be unable to alter the Wembley pitch dimensions, according to the Times.
The newspaper claims that the North London club had proposed to reduce the size of the pitch at the national stadium as manager Mauricio Pochettino believes a smaller surface would be beneficial to the side’s pressing tactics.
However, discussions with the Premier League reportedly did not go as planned as Spurs were informed that a change to the pitch would not be allowed next season.
Two years ago, the Premier League introduced a rule which meant pitch sizes must meet the 100metres x 68metres standard.
The pitch at Wembley is 105m x 69m and although seven other league clubs receive an exception because of space issues at the ground, this will not be the case for Spurs next season.
This means that Spurs will have the largest pitch in the league for the upcoming campaign compared to having the second smallest pitch with White Hart Lane last season (100m x 67m), although they can ask the FA to shorten the width by a metre.
Tottenham struggled to adapt to their new home ground last season as they only managed to win one of the four matches played in European competitions, including an FA Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
This was despite Pochettino marking out a Wembley-sized pitch at the Tottenham training ground.