West Ham defender Angelo Ogbonna has commented on David Moyes’ training session.
West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna has told The Sun that he feels David Moyes’ training sessions are reminiscent of his time with Juventus.
The Hammers slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Watford in Moyes’ first game in charge this afternoon, with Will Hughes and Richarlison striking for the hosts as life after Slaven Bilic opened with a loss.
Moyes will be disappointed to have opened with a defeat, and whilst fans will be fearing the worst about the Scot, given that he suffered relegated with Sunderland last season, his players appear to be a little more optimistic.
Ahead of the game, defender Angelo Ogbonna spoke to The Sun, and revealed that he has been impressed with Moyes’ training sessions so far, comparing the tactical work to his time with Italian and Champions League giants Juventus.
Ogbonna added that he spoke to teammate Pedro Obiang about Moyes’ training, and they felt it was a more continental brand of training, which the Hammers will hope can be the catalyst for an upturn in fortunes.
“When I see our training, it’s really close to Italian training,” said Ogbonna. “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. 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. 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. 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,” he added.
Predecessor Bilic was regularly criticised for his training sessions during the last 12 months, with many criticising West Ham’s fitness and their intensity – something that didn’t exactly look much better against Watford this afternoon.
Ogbonna’s comments about his delight with the new training sessions comes just days after Corriere Dello Sport (via Sport Witness) reported that AC Milan are lining up a move to bring the former Torino ace back to Italy.
Moyes’ adjustments to training may just give Ogbonna renewed desire to stay with the Hammers, though after another shaky defensive display, few West Ham fans would be too cut up if Ogbonna did end up leaving in 2018.
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