Hong Kong Pre-Season Tour: Di Canio Refuses To Train With A Ball, AVB Wants To Go Home Man City Having Fun

Paolo Di Canio has labelled it a killer pitch and Andre Villas-Boas wants to pull out altogether - the Asia Trophy in Hong Kong is on the brink.
Sunderland and Tottenham have been left raging after torrential rain has marred the pre-season spectacle, with the tour's future in doubt.
Villas-Boas wants to pull his side out because of treacherous conditions at the Hong Kong stadium, with Di Canio revealing that the Black Cats are refusing to put themselves in danger and aren't training with a ball.

'Of course I’m worried about the safety of the players. It’s a killer pitch in this weather with injuries, at this stage of the season especially.,' Di Canio fumed.

'The boys trained this morning without the ball. You can’t believe this kind of weather.
'We have to handle the situation. This morning for example we changed our schedule a bit and they ran without the ball. We couldn’t play on the field.
'I hope that we can do something for tomorrow and play the games. I hope the rain can stop from now on and maybe we can have a good pitch.'
Sunderland winger Adam Johnson had an air of acceptance about the situation, saying: 'Obviously it’s difficult but it’s the same for every team.
'The puddles on the pitch stopped the ball rolling. Hopefully the conditions won’t come into play this time.'

The Spurs manager has already lost defender Jan Vertonghen for the start of the Premier League season because of the conditions in Hong Kong, and after the washout win against Sunderland on Wednesday, feels they're better off not risking more injuries in the final.
Officials decided to play just 40 minutes a half in Spurs' 3-1 defeat to the Black Cats as the weather made proceedings farcical. That, Villas-Boas argues, is having a detrimental effect on preparations for the Premier League season.
'I’d prefer not to go ahead. That’s the reality we have to face,' Villas-Boas said.
'We have to be professional and stand up for this tournament. It’s our responsibility if the authorities go ahead and play the game.
'Player safety is much more important than a pre-season game.

'To avoid injuries in situations like this, the pitch isn’t in a great condition.

'It’s going to be extremely poor conditions and the final will be even worse.'
But it could be worse. Manchester City are showing that fun can be had as they did their best Jurgen Klinsmann impressions on a sodden pitch close to the Hong Kong stadium - where they will face Sunderland tomorrow.
City's manager, Manuel Pellegrini, who watched his side train in boggy mud in Hong Kong today, was slightly more diplomatic than his counterparts. 
‘I don’t know what will happen, it doesn’t depend on me,’ he said. ‘It’s up to the tournament organisers. We must be optimists and hope we can play tomorrow.
‘We could work (in training) but not exactly as we need. We worked this morning with some troubles but not too much.
‘Of course it’s not easy, it rains every day here. It’s a difficult pitch, we know that.
‘The other day we played without any problem so we’ll see tomorrow how it is.’

Villas-Boas blamed the conditions for Vertonghen's injury and revealed that he will, in all likelihood, miss out on the season curtain raiser when Spurs travel to newly-promoted Crystal Palace on August 18.
'Jan has damaged his ankle ligaments and is most likely going to be out of training for two to three weeks, just about the deadline for the start of the season,' he said.
'Hopefully we can see a better recovery time from him.'

The Portuguese boss is also without Gareth Bale - set to stay despite strong interest from Real Madrid - who has a 'slight strain'. Asked whether he would feature against City, Villas-Boas replied: 'I don’t think so. He hasn’t joined the team (training) yet, I think we’ll see him back in training in London.
'It’s a 7-10 day period for this kind of injury and we’re in that time frame.'

WHY DO THEY BOTHER?

The Premier League's pre-season joint to Hong Kong takes place in the traditional rain season, which runs from May to September.
Summer weather in Hong Kong is hot, humid and unstable, with thunderstorms and heavy showers common.
However, temperatures usually exceed 30 degrees Celsius, making the atmosphere extremely humid.