Matthew Upson and Freddie Sears returned on Saturday on a day when Zavon
Hines scored again
26.07.2008
Thurrock FC 0-3 West Ham United XI
Zavon Hines and Freddie Sears were amongst the goals as West Ham United ran
out comfortable 3-0 winners over Thurrock at Ship Lane in Saturday
afternoon's pre-season friendly.
A second penalty in a week from Hines - and his third goal in three matches
- scored in the first half was added by a strike from Sears in the second
and an own goal from Thurrock soon after rounded out the scoring. It was the
first game back following the summer break for both Matthew Upson and Sears
who got some welcome match action under their belts ahead of the new
campaign. The England defender was captain for the day and Sears was back in
a West Ham United shirt less than a week after returning from duty with the
England U-19's.
It was a lively first half which saw both teams go on the attack from the
start. The home side sent a few crosses in to test West Ham United keeper
Marek Stech early on - the young keeper showing his growing confidence in
goal, by dealing comfortably with everything. Stech made a superb
double-save late in the half to deny Thurrock a goal, saving first with his
feet and then blocking the rebound shot. Sears had linked up well with Hines
and it was the latter who was brought down on the quarter hour mark by
Thurrock's Kenny Clark and the referee immediately pointed to the spot with
a quarter of an hour played.
Hines followed up his spot-kick winner against Billericay last Saturday by
making no mistake again. West Ham United soon had other chances to go
further in front, Jack Jeffrey sending a curling shot just wide and Anthony
Edgar putting in a good cross only for it to be cleared in the box. Tom
Harvey also went close just before half-time. The second half saw an
unchanged West Ham United side sent out by Keen and on 51 minutes they got a
deserved second goal.
The ever-lively Sears got away from his marker with a jinking run and calmly
slotted the ball into the net. On 64 minutes, the visitors got a third -
after Sears had once again put the home defence under pressure in the box.
Thurrock defender Clark tried to clear but only succeeded in striking the
ball against his own keeper and ball bounced straight into the back of the
net. At the back, Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson put in a sterling effort - getting
up well throughout the match to repeatedly deny Thurrock on his first
appearance. Alongside him, the experienced Upson led by example with an
accomplished display before being replaced on 75 minutes by Oliver Lee.
West Ham United made two other changes in the second half, Matthew Fry and
Daniel Kearns coming on for Edgar and Tony Brookes. Thurrock kept going as
they looked for a consolation - making runs to edge of the box and shooting
for goal whenever the opportunity arose. West Ham United were always a
threat and could have had a fourth when Lee sent in a swerving cross for
Kearns to meet, only for the Northern Irish youth international to strike
wide. It was another good work out for Kevin Keen's men and a well deserved
victory.
West Ham United: Marek Stech, Ryan O'Neill, Tony Brooks (Kearns), Holmar Orn
Eyjolfsson, Matthew Upson (Lee 75), Tom Harvey, Zavon Hines, Josh Payne,
Jack Jeffrey, Freddie Sears, Anthony Edgar (Fry).
Sub not used: Conor Okus
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Curbs pleased with US tour - SSN
Hammers boss looks to the future
Last updated: 25th July 2008
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley believes the Hammers have benefited both on
and off the field thanks to their pre-season tour of North America. The
Hammers boss said the London club have raised their profile, while the
players who made the trip to the US and Canada have also got sharper ahead
of the Premier League season. He was speaking after watching his side go
down 3-2 defeat to a MLS All-Stars side in Toronto, which featured David
Beckham in front of a 20,844 crowd. Curbishley, who's side had earlier
beaten MLS side Columbus Crew 3-1 in Ohio, said: "The problem we had is that
we have probably got five or six senior players missing from the squad
tonight and the week we've had in America and now Toronto means,
unfortunately, that some of the players here have had to play most of the
football and I've not really been able to rest anyone. "I was delighted to
get through the game having picked up no injuries. All the clubs that come
over for this game have done so in their pre-seasons and it's difficult for
us. "We're delighted to be invited. For us, we knew our profile in America
and Canada was high, and it's got a bit bigger. We've enjoyed our week
here."
He also believes the players who travelled on the trip will have benefited
ahead of the Premier League starting again on 16th August. He said: "We've
got four weeks before we start, and we've left four or five senior players
back home in London, had a couple of players here, (Craig) Bellamy and
(Mark) Noble, who couldn't play this evening. "We go back tomorrow and we
know we've got a heavy three weeks or more coming up, with quite a few
games, and it's a progression for us to build up to 16th August and the
first game. "We're very grateful to Columbus for agreeing to play us because
we really needed to come and play two games here and for me, I know that the
boys who have been on this trip are looking much sharper than they did at
this same time last year when we were doing our pre-season. "So we'll go
back tomorrow, join up with the rest of the squad, have a couple of days off
over the weekend and play on again."
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Hammers take action to improve medical set-up - Guardian Series
7:55pm Friday 25th July 2008
WEST HAM have taken steps to improve its medical set-up in a bid to avoid
the unprecedented level of injuries sustained to the first-team squad last
season.
The club has appointed new staff in the areas of sports science and medicine
to complement the existing set-up. In comes chief medical officer Nikos
Touroudis - who has experience working at Panathinakos, Fiorentina, Verona
and Steaua Bucharest - to take a strategic overview of operations. Leading
Serie A osteopath Marco Cesarini and rehabilitation physiotherapist Giorgio
Gasparini have also been drafted in. The move comes on the back of a season
dominated by a high level of injuries and recurrence of certain conditions
among the squad, which effectively scuppered any hopes the club had of
challenging for a European place. That saw the board commission an
indepedent study from the renowned Sports Performance Assessment and
Rehabilitation Centre at Roehampton University on existing operations
towards the end of last term. Now, following that and other research, the
board - who will also step up the search for a new training ground and
install state of the art equipment at the existing site at Chadwell Heath -
has moved to give the team the best possible backing for the new campaign.
"The board and manager have taken these decisive steps to ensure the club
has the very best support in place for the entire coaching and playing
staff," Hammers chief executive Scott Duxbury told the club's offical
website. "We sought the best independent advice and over recent months have
been looking at home and across the continent for the leading experts in the
field. "I am delighted we have been able to strengthen our existing
operation in this way and am confident the benefits will be considerable."
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Manchester United to sign Carlos Tevez for British record £35 million -
Telegraph
Carlos Tevez's complicated loan arrangement with Manchester United is set to
become permanent in a deal that will break the British transfer record the
player's representative said today.
By Steve Wilson and agencies
Last Updated: 2:48PM BST 26 Jul 2008
The Argentine, who join United from West Ham a year ago, is half-way through
a two year loan arrangement between United and sports investment firm, MSI,
who own the player's economic rights. Both parties are eager to push through
the deal which is expected to rise to a figure of around £35 million,
considerably more than the £30.6 million Chelsea paid AC Milan for Andrei
Shevchenko. United are currently paying around £5 million a season to
'lease' Tevez, with an option to buy him outright at any time, but if no
permanent contract is signed by January, Tevez would be free to talk to
other clubs. And today, Kia Joorabchian, the Iranian born businessman who
owns MSI said: "We will help him accelerate the deal to make sure it goes
through. "Everyone's keen to make sure his future is dealt with in the
correct way. Manchester United have been fantastic with Carlos - he's very
lucky to have them and they are lucky too because he's been very good for
them. "It should happen - but we don't know the timing, whether it will be a
month, two or six - but we'll make sure when the time is right everything is
done smoothly."
Joorabchian also said that winning the treble was Tevez's biggest ambition
and that his Champions League victory with United meant the most of all 24
titles he has previosuly won. Though a deal may be struck this week, full
payment may be delayed until January, or even next summer, so as not to
limit Sir Alex Ferguson's transfer budget in this window. Ferguson is keen
to bring Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham and has not been dissuaded from his
pursuit by noises from White Hart Lane complaining about "tapping-up" by
United or an official complaint lodged by Tottenham about United's
behaviour. David Gill, United's chief executive, spoke recently of the need
to resolve the Tevez issue before next summer and with the player eager to
stay with the English and European champions there should be little barrier
to the deal being struck. Tevez has quickly become an integral part of
Ferguson's attack, scoring 19 goals in 48 appearances for United in his
first season. United currently have the record for a transfer between two
English clubs, the £29.1 million they paid to Leeds United for Rio Ferdinand
in 2002.
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West Ham boss Alan Curbishley blames lack of rest for MLS defeat - The
Mirror
26/07/2008
Alan Curbishley blamed the loss of several senior players for West Ham's
shock defeat to Major League Soccer All-Stars yesterday. Striker Dean Ashton
scored twice but could not stop the Hammers going down 3-2 to a side
featuring David Beckham at BMO Field. Several players, including Kieron Dyer
and Matthew Upson, are all back at home nursing injuries. Valon Behrami, a
£5m signing from Lazio this week, is also still waiting to link up with his
new team-mates on the squad's return to London. West Ham boss Curbishley
said: "The problem is we had five or six senior players missing and the week
we've had in America and Toronto means, unfortunately, that some of the
players have had to play most of the football. "I've not really been able to
rest anyone. But we've enjoyed our week here."
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West Ham's Solano remains hopeful of LA Galaxy deal
tribalfooball.com - July 27, 2008
Released West Ham midfielder Nobby Solano remains hopeful of winning a move
to LA Galaxy. He told the Mirror: "It would be a privilege to go to Galaxy,
but they are mid-season now and it is complicated. I may have to wait until
pre-season in March. But I still want to play over here."
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Curbishley confident West Ham raised profile in USA
tribalfooball.com - July 27, 2008
West Ham boss Alan Curbishley hopes their involvement in the MLS Allstars
game will help lift the club's profile in the USA. Curbishley said after the
3-2 defeat to David Beckham's Allstars: "We knew our profile in America and
Canada was high and hopefully it has got a bit bigger. We have enjoyed our
week here. We have been well looked after and everybody has been fantastic
to us. Anyone who has come to the game will have enjoyed it ... The goals
that the MLS scored were terrific. "They showed that they can compete. That
was the big thing. The reason for the game is for the MLS to show off their
riches and their talent, they have done that. We are really pleased that we
have been invited and it will be a big memory for everybody at West Ham."
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Ex-West Ham winger Solano: Don't blame foreigners for England woes
tribalfootball.com - July 27, 2008
Former Newcastle and West Ham midfielder Nobby Solano insists England's woes
shouldn't be blamed on the foreigners playing in the Premiership.
Solano told the Mirror: "The England team is not suffering because of
foreigners coming here. They have made the league stronger, more competitive
and helped it be the best in the world.
"All the top teams are filled with the best foreign talent, Ronaldo, Tevez,
Torres, great players. It is not an excuse for England to say because these
guys are playing and taking places up that we didn't qualify for Euro 2008.
"The attitude of English players has to be to fight harder, get better and
be as strong as the best in Europe rather than moaning about it. The Spanish
league has lots of Brazilians and Argentines playing and Spain still won
Euro 2008. "Young English players have one good season and they are raved
about straight away. Everyone gets excited about them. Immediately they are
talked about as worth £20-30million and that is crazy. They have to do it
for longer. Those prices mean clubs look to cheaper players from abroad. "I
agree that the lower divisions should be more English and be a breeding
ground, but not the top flight. If you look at Germany they do not have a
league of individuals as strong as England but they always produce a strong
national side and get to finals."
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West Ham seek Europe's best for new-look medical team
tribalfootball.com - July 27, 2008
West Ham United have gone outside the UK to boost their medical department.
Arriving is chief medical officer Nikos Tzouroudis, who has worked for
several leading European clubs including Panathinakos in his native Greece,
Fiorentina, Verona and Steaua Bucharest. He will take a strategic overview
of operations. From Italy, the recruits include a leading Serie A osteopath
in Marco Cesarini, who has considerable contacts, and rehabilitation
physiotherapist Giorgio Gasparini, who is used to working one-on-one with
elite players such as World Cup winners Fabio Cannavaro and Filippo Inzaghi.
Hammers chief Scott Duxbury told whufc.com: "The Board and manager have
taken these decisive steps to ensure the club has the very best support in
place for the entire coaching and playing staff. We sought the best
independent advice and over recent months have been looking at home and
across the continent for the leading experts in the field. I am delighted we
have been able to strengthen our existing operation in this way and am
confident the benefits will be considerable."
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