Reading boss Jaap Staam is the latest figure in the game to indicate that life on the West Ham training ground is not as intense as it is elsewhere
And his use of the word reminds us of Slaven’s outburst after the horrifying Arsenal defeat when he accused the players of “lacking intensity.”
Staam has made it as clear as he dare that loanee Reece Oxford has been absent from the Championship team since his arrival perhaps for that reason in his latest presser.
Discussing the teenager he said: ” Young players need intense training. Reece Oxford has been surprised at the level of intensity in training at Reading, compared to at West Ham.
Oxford, who made his debut against Preston on Saturday, is now ready to play according to the former Manchester United centre half who knows a thing or two about the position!
He added: “Young players need to improve. You need to be on top of them and give them good advice, so that’s why training is intense.”
It’s not the first time West Ham’s training ground methods have been discussed publicly with Enner Valencia explaining life was tougher at Everton.
And flop Simone Zaza – who in great fairness to him accepted he was 99 per cent responsible for his failue – commented that he needed his a kick up the ass which he didn’t get indicating 40 minute sessions weren’t enough.
This is also supported by Bilic who complained about the lack of intensity in west hams training sessions this season ( thought to be due to the poison effect of Payet. ). By all accounts that has been rectified, post Payet.
Staam is always full of BS. He obviously signed Oxford to be in reserve, with very little intention of playing him. His own coach said Oxford is learning the way Reading do things before he can be considered. If he gets a couple of full games before end of May, he will be lucky.
However when two other players say the same?
when 2 other players say similar ( albeit both with plenty to explain ), it adds weight to the argument. On the other hand they could be complaining about the same thing Bilic was explaining.
This has been mentioned for this season, but I didn’t hear it for last season, so was it adjusted to the bad side in the summer or was it due to the Payet facter.
Obviously Bilic is back in the balance again, so it’s wait and see time for me.
Debatable ennit Sleeps?
Its funny but when we won six of nine there was no mention of the training.
Then when we have a dip the old training blurb comes out again.
But not from here Macca…from Reading
Apoligises my old son i wasnt popping at you at all.
Apologies not required pal. The fitness coach however is 72 years old 🙁
My theory why Reece hasn’t played is this. Reading and Oxford United hate each other.
It’s a PR disaster to have a player with Oxford on his back in a Reading shirt.
Pmsl i like that conspiracy theory CB.Very funny.
Whatever the pro’s and con’s Bilic said the intensity wasn’t in training but who is in charge of the intensity of the training ? Any coach worth his salt is the one who dictates the intensity not the players, before the Crystal Palace away game was the only time the players were trained hard we had our best performance of the season in terms of pressing the ball hard and moving it fast, Zaza looked like he might end up being a success, immediately following that the training went back to normal and we have our lack of effort every game. Parkes is right Staam is right, Valencia is right, Zaza was right, Payet was right. I might no f all about being a football manager but I know plenty about training with intensity and as someone that used to train with intensity on my own and in groups. I know when players are freewheeling and are not fit enough for the effort required to compete in the top quarter of the table, our team want to do all the fun stuff with the ball like attacking in numbers but lack the energy and motivation to do the hard work like sprinting back, closing the ball down, putting their bodies on the line. You don’t need to have any experience in football to see that, you just have to watch a game played by a team at the top of the league compared to us, they all close down as a team,. If you analyse it closely you will see that they don’t only close the ball down but they are moving to close down the player that the player being closed down is likely to pass too because any decent teams passes the ball to the man that has a man on so that if necessary they can release the ball quickly, then there is the third man running so you should always be moving to intercept that pass or that man also. Football is not rocket science, to maintain that level of effort for 90 minutes you have to be match fit, if you are fitter than the next team you have all the advantages a really fit hungry team can beat a high quality lazy team but a low quality lazy team will win nothing, I am not saying the players are lazy but they are not match fit in comparison to their opponents, Zaza said they did virtually no intense training, had poor nutrition and then were expected to go full gas on a match day which he couldn’t adjust too, he blamed himself for being unable to adjust, you wonder why so many new players get injuries, it is impossible to say without having the data but if the players are training like that, effectively in a manner akin to tapering between matches (or ticking over fitness wise) it’s like going from cold to red hot putting an unnecessary strain on the body and making them more likely to break down physically, the fitter you are the less effort you actually expend, the better decisions you will make because you will think more clearly due to greater oxygen available to the mind and body, the muscles will work less because they will be burning their fuels mostly carbs and sugars much more efficiently which is where the next part of the equation comes in and that is the quality and content of the nutrition and sufficient rest to aid recovery. At the end of the day performance comes down to maths all of which is as individual as a finger print everyone has a VO2max then its about hard work with intensity aswell as endurance in training, understanding the way the individual body works, how much rest it requires, how it depletes it stores and ensuring those stores can be replenished pre – during and post matches with adequate nutrition,liquids, supplements, conditioning and rest. Unless Slav adopts the modern approach imho we will decline into the team under Pardew who were likened to a bunch of primadonnas.
We really should be cut adrift in bottom place in the league shouldnt we.Im surprised we have even won a game.How do we do it when fans are such experts on our training methods compared to the pros.
Maybe some of us live in the real world mate, get off your high horse…
Just ignore him No32. All I ever see him do is have a pop at other fans comments. Not exactly sure who died and made him the authority on we can and can’t write.
Cheers Spider, yeah he doesn’t seem to realise it is a site where we all have different opinions and air them / discuss them 🙂
The case against Bilic builds I’m afraid. Unless Leicester are suffering the effects of last night I think you will see what it’s like if you have a fit, fully committed side. Sevilla could not keep the ball last night because Leicester were all over them. Same with Liverpool a few games back. We just haven’t looked up for it all season- even in the games we have won.