SAVAGE ATTACK
DAVID MOYES is busy masterminding West Ham’s escape with The Italian Job.
The Hammers boss has been in his new post for 12 days and is putting players through gruelling double sessions.
9
Italian centre-back Angelo Ogbonna played for Juventus under Antonio Conte and reckons Moyes’ methods are similar to those employed in Serie A.
Ogbonna said: “When I see our training, it’s really close to Italian training.
“It’s really similar to Italian or Spanish training, tactical work but with the ball.
“If I compare it to Serie A and my time in Juventus, it is really similar. We started with double sessions like I was doing a couple of years ago in Italy.
9
9
WSET HAM TRANSFER STORIES
“Maybe we didn’t have two sessions a day when we had two games in a week.
“But when you have one game a week, you have to have double sessions like this to be fit.
“The harder you train, the quicker you get fit.
STONES THROWN City extend lead at top of table but star defender sustains hamstring injury
“And when we have time to train like we have had during the international break, you have to do it.
“When I spoke with Pedro Obiang and the other players, they said, ‘Yes, it’s not just English training but international’. The Premier League is not just an English league, it has international character.
9
9
“If you look at Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool, they have many different things — and that’s why it is the most important league.”
Moyes has not had long to work with his biggest stars, with players only returning from international duty a few days ago.
9
9
But he has mixed taking training himself with video analysis of why West Ham are in the relegation zone.
The big concern is running stats and also developing partnerships on the pitch.
Moyes said: “For me the biggest thing is I want to get the best out of all of the players and how can I get the best out of them?
“To try to get the players in what they see as their best positions.
Watford take on West Ham in our Sunday Premier League preview
“Andy Carroll — who wouldn’t want to give Andy Carroll the ball in the right area?
“We have to use the ball right but we’ve got other strikers who can use it in different ways.
“The players have grasped it and got on with their jobs, everything we’ve done.
“They have embraced it as well. They’ve shown such a level of commitment in training in their work that I’m not frightened to give them more — or keep feeding them information.
9
9
“We’ve tried to put in an awful lot of work to them in the last five or six days.
“On the other hand, we also have to save a lot of energy for the game as well.”
Moyes might be overseeing his 500th game as a Premier League manager at Watford on Sunday but he concedes he will feel first-day nerves when he takes his seat in the Vicarage Road away dugout.
He said: “I was really nervous on my first day at Everton and I’ll be nervous here now.
“It’s different from where it was when I first started 15, 20 years ago.
David Moyes says he has 'a point to prove' as he becomes manager of West Ham United
💰How to claim your FREE £30 bet💰
“You got given some time then. I’m not so sure you do now in football.”
Ogbonna, 29, admits it has been a different atmosphere at the club — and a change was needed after just one Premier League win in seven.
He said: “It is fair to say the intensity has increased and I think we needed that. In the Premier League, our squad is really good.
“But we need to play as a team and our squad can make a difference up front and at the back.
“It’s important to have everybody fit and to fight for each other and it’s really good to train like this.”
Daily Round-Up: Watch the best Premier League action from Saturday’s games
