As a part-time groundsman myself, I've got an idea of how hard it is to maintain a playing surface when battling the weather and heavy use of the pitch.
It has been a hard winter, with temperatures at a constant low meaning the grass isn't growing well at all.
The groundsmen at the SOL would have done everything they could to get the surface as good as possible yesterday, and they would have been gutted to see it perform the way it did.
But as people have said, the pitches we have nowadays are probably the best we've ever had, and it's not stopped players in the past.
EDIT:
Bit of information about the pitch if you really want to read it:
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.safc.com/news/20090719/stadium-of-light-the-pitch_2256213_1724447" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.safc.com/news/20090719/stadi ... 13_1724447</a>