Hammers fall to Kazan defeat
WHUFC.com
Rubin Kazan 3-0 West Ham United
Pre-season match
West Ham United fell to a 3-0 defeat to Russian Premier League side Rubin Kazan in the second match of their tour to Austria on Wednesday. Just 24 hours after drawing 2-2 with FC Slovacko of the Czech Republic, the Hammers were back in action, although they were unable to find a way past their opponents. After Enner Valencia and Reece Burke went close early on, Kazan showed a greater ruthlessness in front of goal, moving into a 2-0 lead by the break through Marko Devic and Maxime Lestienne. Gukdeniz Karadeniz added a third after the break and the Hammers will head into Saturday's meeting with Karlsruher SC hoping to register their first win of the tour. There were starts for Havard Nordtveit and Aaron Cresswell after the pair sat out Tuesday's draw with FC Slovacko, while Adrian also returned between the posts in an experienced Hammers line-up.
Domingos Quina and Reece Burke provided a youthful element too, but it was one of the established players who had the first chance to strike six minutes in. A simple clipped ball over the top caught the Rubin Kazan defence out and left Enner Valencia in the clear, but he couldn't get enough power in his shot to beat goalkeeper Sergey Rzyhikov. Three minutes later Sofiane Feghouli cut out the Russian's defence with a whipped free-kick to the far post, but Burke couldn't keep his effort down. The game then settled down with neither team making too many inroads until Kazan struck the opener out of nothing with 23 minutes on the clock.
It was a well worked goal, as they waited for the overload down the right to feed the onrushing Ilzat Akhmetov. He took his time and waited for the perfect moment to cut back to Devic to knock home from close range.
Two minutes later the same player went close to a second when Quina's loose pass in midfield allowed him to carry the ball forward. Adrian was off his line and Devic tried the chip, only just clearing the crossbar.
Quina had a 25-yard shot easily saved by Ryzhikov, but it was Rubin Kazan who struck next, doubling their lead right on half time. Lestienne pounced on Declan Rice's backpass to sweep home past an exposed Adrian and give his side a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Hammers tried to find a route back into the match after half time, but were being frustrated by some solid defending from Kazan. Instead, it was the Russians who moved further ahead midway through the half when, just moments after Samuel Garcia hit the post, sub Karadeniz burst clear to roll into the bottom left hand corner. Cresswell fired a free kick into the wall and Pedro Obiang fired over, but there would be no consolation goal for the Hammers.
Rubin Kazan: Ryzhikov, Nabiullin, Devic (Karadeniz 54), Lestienne (Tkachuk 62), Caktas, Sanchez, Ozdoev, Burlak, Garcia, Ustinov, Akhmetov
Subs: Bergstrom, Kverkvelina, Portnyagin, Mironov, Zhemaletdinov, Bauer, Nesterenko, Zambrano, Dzhallov, Kuznetcov, Filtsov, Kamenshikov, Kambolov, Akmurzin
Goals: Devic 23, Lestienne 45, Karadeniz 67
Booked: Devic
West Ham United: Adrian; Antonio (Cullen 64), Nordtveit, Burke (Rice 33), Cresswell (Page 74); Kouyate (Browne 74); Feghouli (Samuelsen 80), Quina (Obiang 46), Noble, Tore (Fletcher 74); Valencia (Martinez 80)
Subs: Randolph, Spiegel, Makasi
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New Training Ground on track
West Ham United's first-team squad to move into a new training ground at Rush Green
Head Groundsman Dougie Robertson says Hammers will benefit from a number of key changes
Slaven Bilic and his staff will set up their headquarters at Rush Green at the end of July
The West Ham United first-team players and staff can expect a major transformation when they return to England at the end of July as they prepare for a big move into their new Training Ground. Slaven Bilic, his backroom team and squad will be making the short switch from Chadwell Heath to Rush Green on a permanent basis when they arrive back in England following next week's UEFA Europa League third qualifying round first leg tie. The Rush Green site was previously used by the Club's Academy, but with the team making a historic move into the new London Stadium, the Hammers' Board is determined to improve the facilities across all areas.
Head Groundsman Dougie Robertson has been helping to oversee the major refurb during the summer and says the players can expect a big change when they arrive at their new training base. Robertson said: "The changes are huge. I was fortunate enough to walk through the building a few days ago and have seen the finishes. "The facilities that are now available really brings us into the big league and that is where the Club wants to be. The Club has done a fantastic job getting the players what they require and hopefully they can do the same in the league. "Everyone sees the players on a matchday but they spend the a lot of their time at the training ground and that is where the team bonding really grows. "We are incredibly fortunate that we will have three different kind of pitches for the players to train on. "We will have the old traditional fibre sand, the Desso pitches which we had at Upton Park and now the new Stadium and a new product called AirFibr which we are trialling in the rehab area and a specialist product which is proven to be softer for players coming back from injury. "The team are very approachable about all the changes and we don't envisage any major problems. The players probably need to bring a map on their first day back as it will be different to what they are used to! "A lot of thanks has to go to [Relocation Project Director] Stewart Pegge, [Operations Director] Ben Illingworth, [Head of Medical and Sports Science] Stijn Vandenbroucke and Slaven for helping us get the project along and give us a facility that the Club deserves."
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From the Treatment Room
WHUFC.com
Head of Medical and Sports Science Stijn Vandenbroucke issues an update – in association with Spire Roding Hospital...
Hello everybody,
We had a successful Tour to the United States, where we had the use of great facilities which enabled us to train and recover very hard. We travelled back, enjoyed a few days off and some of the players attended the Home Kit launch event, and now the squad has gone to Austria. Unfortunately we picked up a serious injury to Doneil Henry. Doneil will be out for six to eight weeks with a ligament injury suffered in the pre-season match at Carolina Railhawks.
Some players picked up small fatigue-related injuries which are not really a problem but should not be underestimated. Other players have issues that need ongoing management. This means that, while everybody has been training in Austria, not all of them will feature in the back-to-back games against Slovacko – which we drew 2-2 on Tuesday – and Rubin Kazan on Wednesday evening. We individualise the programme to maximise the performance and availability, without compromising the hard training.
Andy Carroll trained fully this week, but he did not play on Tuesday night. This is Andy's first pre-season in several years. We are trying to find the correct balance between training and recovery. Andy has an individual programme where he does 90 per cent of the pre-season and sometimes has an extra day's rest or works in the gym. Likewise, Winston Reid did not train on Tuesday and also missed the Slovacko game.
It is a constant cycle of hard training and recovery, being recovered and prepared enough for the next hard session. A number of players have joined the squad for this training camp, all of whom have slightly different fitness levels. Michail Antonio and Josh Cullen missed the US Tour but have trained with the U21s and the rehab-fitness coach for some time now and featured in a game for 45 minutes, so they are ready. Then you have Cheikhou Kouyate, Enner Valencia and Gokhan Tore who joined up on 11 July, have worked hard with the U21s and fitness coach Eamon Swift. After their impressive showings at Euro 2016, Angelo Ogbonna, Ginge and Dimitri Payet will join the team in the near future.
Stijn Vandenbroucke
Head of Medical and Sports Science
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It's Big Sam for England
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 20th July 2016
By: Staff Writer
Former Hammers boss Sam Allardyce is expected to be named as the new England manager within 24 hours. Big Sam, who managed West Ham from 2011 to 2015 is set to become the second former Hammers boss to take the national post following Ron Greenwood's tenure in the late 70s/early 80s. Allardyce, 61, will leave his job at Sunderland to take the post, a role which he has long sought - so much so that a release clause has been added to most of his managerial contracts in recent years.
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A little time and patience
KUMB.com
Filed: Wednesday, 20th July 2016
By: Colours Never Run
In a roundabout way, we're roughly breaking even on deals so far this summer and have improved the squad already from last year, as well as keep all of our very best players throughout the squad from junior (yes, especially Oxford, for now) to senior pros.
All this business without having to spend anything of note yet, with six long transfer weeks left to conclude further ins and outs. And much of this business before a single pre-season ball had been kicked which is what I really like to see - integrating new arrivals as early as possible, just as we managed in the recent past.
At this stage of the window, I can definitely think of a lot worse business going on by comparison. It's also worth bearing in mind the clear recruiting strategy we have in place these days to supplement what is already a very decent squad with further genuine quality, as well as shoring up the ranks with a few promising 'kids' as back-up to further push everyone on.
It's not a strategy that's haphazard and without any thought to the inefficiencies we currently suffer from ie. trying to solve our long term striker problems and not just relying on the rest of the squad to bail us out. So I think it's fair to say we've already made some really good business in both football and monetary terms so far, even if it doesn't have all the razzamatazz of a couple of big money 'superstar' signings yet.
We absolutely don't need to rush or panic buy, as even a worst case scenario means we have a slightly improved squad from last season with many of the same players who performed so well for us by scoring goals-a-plenty as well as racking up a record Premier League amount of points to go with it.
My one big complaint I would like to level at the Board (mainly David Sullivan) is his openness regarding making a lot of noise that we need "a new £20million star striker". It was totally unnecessary on a few counts:
1. Some clubs have been made aware that we are prepared to spend big and have killed the situation (Lyon owner).
2. It has completely unsettled Diafra Sakho, probably making him feel even less welcome here if we're so vocal about replacement strikers.
3. It has unnecessarily raised our fans' expectations, with many wanting to hold the Board to account should we not get the star striker that costs a vast sum of money.
I don't actually care if they cost £100million or arrive on a free, as long as they are one of the best around at doing what they do up front. That won't stop many from rightly criticising them though for raising the bar when he really didn't need too. That's our Sully for you though; you have to take the rough with the smooth with him at times.
We are currently in a very strong position of negotiation as a football club knowing we have most players tied down to lengthy contracts and at big valuations, should anyone wish to purchase one. And because of this, it means we can continue to carefully pick and choose as and when to buy the next big signing without the unbearable pressure to know we need a position filling ASAP because we haven't any cover whatsoever.
We've also cleared the decks as much as possible with regards to making sure we have as much of the wages budget (FFP) made available should a top-quality striker (or others) become available that fit in with what we want to achieve.
Naturally I don't want nor expect our transfer dealings to stop here and now, I'm just merely pointing out that what we have done so far is prudent, studious business which still has plenty of room for manoeuvre before the window eventually closes at the end of August (after one day in which a lot of final business around the League is often concluded).
And bearing that in mind, I'm completely at ease about our present transfer situation and don't have grave concerns.
Now that could change should we start selling off a few more of our prized assets and not replacing them accordingly, but considering our successful recruiting trends in the summers since relegation I struggle to accept this stance and instead prefer to continue giving the Board the benefit of the doubt in continuing their excellent work to date in this department.
Our squad has been significantly transformed in just five years, I think we owe them a little more patience and understanding. That's not to let them off the hook entirely, as they must continue to strive to capitalise on what is already a strong squad with the finishing touches it truly deserves in the attacking department (and arguably in defence also).
I've backed them personally for the past five summers or so by appreciating what they are trying to do, I hope they can repay my faith once more by delivering yet another first class squad that we can continue to be proud of.
Desperate, we definitely ain't.
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West Ham beaten by Rubin Kazan in pre-season friendly
By James Walker-Roberts
Last Updated: 20/07/16 7:55pm
SSN
West Ham are still waiting for their first pre-season win after losing 3-0 to Rubin Kazan in Austria, on Wednesday. The Hammers, who drew with FC Slovacko just 24 hours earlier, named a strong starting line-up that included Mark Noble, Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio and Gokhan Tore. Sofiane Feghouli started for the second game in a row and youngsters Domingos Quina and Reece Burke were also in the XI. Rubin took the lead after 23 minutes when Ilzat Akhmetov escaped Noble's challenge and crossed for Marko Devic to turn in. Enner Valencia headed over the bar from an offside position before substitute Declan Rice misplaced a pass across goal and Maxime Lestienne pounced to make it 2-0. Feghouli and Pedro Obiang shot over in the second half as West Ham struggled to create clear chances, managing just two efforts on target. Rubin wrapped up the win when Gokdeniz Karadeniz burst through the defence and fired past Adrian.
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WEST HAM 0-3 RUBIN KAZAN – MATCH REPORT
BY BRIAN KNOX ON 20 JULY 2016 AT 7:17PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
West Ham played their 4th pre-season game this afternoon in Krottendorf in Austria against their Russian opponents Rubin Kazan.
The Hammers named a stronger starting line-up than yesterday's game including Adrian in goal.
The back four consisted of Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell at the fullback positions and Reece Burke and new signing Havard Nordtveit at centreback. Captain Mark Noble once again anchored the midfield alongside Cheikh Kouyate and young Portuguese star Domingos Quina. Summer signing Sofiane Feghouli started on the right wing with ex Besiktas man Gokhan Tore on the left and Enner Valencia made his second appearance of pre-season in the lone striker role.
The Irons had the first decent chance of the game when a ball clipped over the top set Valencia free but Ryzhikov managed to save the Ecuadorian's attempt on goal. Once again one of the bright spots for the Hammers was the ex Valencia midfielder Sofiane Feghouli.
Rubin Kazan opened the scoring in the 23rd minute when Akhmetov got in behind the West Ham defence and cut the ball back for an easy finish for the Ukrainian international Marko Devic.
The Russian side then doubled their lead right before halftime when a loose pass from young Irish defender Declan Rice set Belgian U21 winger Maxime Lestienne up and he beat off the challenge from Nordtveit and slotted his shot in the bottom right hand corner of the net. Rice had only been on the pitch 13 minutes after replacing Reece Burke in the back line.
Obiang replaced Domingos Quina at halftime and the Hammers huffed and puffed but couldn't really break down the Kazan back four and as their legs began to go after playing two games in 24 hours the Russian side took complete control.
The 3rd goal arrived in the 67 minute just seconds after Garcia had struck the post. This time 36 year old former Turkish international Karadeniz beat Adrian after he got a clear run on goal.
Slaven made more changes as the game neared the end but to no avail as the Hammers rarely theatened to get a foothold and the game ended in a 3-0 defeat.
Although Slaven might be disappointed that his side didn't really get into this game he will be happy that Noble, Nordtveit and Adrian got another 90 minutes under their belts and the players seemed to have come away with a clean bill of health, plus the fact the majority of players just played 2 games in 24 hours against a side two weeks ahead of us in their pre-season preparations.
The Hammers last game of their Austrian tour will be on Saturday against FC Karlsruher and hopefully we will see the first appearances of Carroll and Reid on this tour as it is the club's last game before their 1st game of the 2016/17 Europa League.
Match Ratings
Adrian 6
Antonio 6
Cresswell 6
Burke 7
Nordtveit 6
Noble 6
Kouyate 6
Quina 6
Tore 6
Feghouli 7
Valencia 6
Subs
Fletcher 5
Martinez 5
Rice 5
Cullen 5
Obiang 5
Samuelsen 5
Browne 5
Page 5
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Diafra Sakho transfer chase grows as Crystal Palace target West Ham's wantaway striker
22:30, 19 JUL 2016
BY DARREN LEWIS
Sunderland, West Brom and Swansea are also keen on the 26-year-old, but the Hammers say they won't sell until they have a replacement sorted out
The Mirror
Crystal Palace have £15million-rated West Ham striker Diafra Sakho in their sights. The 26-year-old Senegal star wants to leave Upton Park after falling out with the club's top brass, and the Eagles - also keen on West Brom's Saido Berahino - have joined Sunderland, West Brom and Swansea in chasing him. The marksman refused to travel with West Ham 's squad for their pre-season training camp in Austria. Sunderland have had an £11million bid rejected but are ready to return. West Ham say they will not allow Sakho, who has scored 15 goals in 43 appearances, to depart unless they have brought in his replacement. The Hammers are trying to sign AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca. They are waiting for a response from the 29-year-old Colombian after making him a contract offer last week. Sakho, on £30,000-a-week, has already handed in a transfer request in a bid to speed up his departure. Palace's move to sign Liverpool target-man Christian Benteke has stalled, though they still have an offer of around £31m on the table. Selhurst boss Alan Pardew, who has already raided West Ham once this summer for defender James Tomkins, is looking to strengthen his forward line after his side struggled for goals last season.
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