West Ham United are hard at work in Germany this weekend after a day of travelling and settling in at their picturesque training camp in Bavaria.
The squad headed out from Heathrow on Friday morning with Scott Parker in tow after his return from an extended break because of his England exertions. The party arrived in Munich early in the afternoon where they were met as they walked into the arrivals lounge by Alessandro Diamanti. The forward had been back in Italy for a few days with his wife on paternity leave.
As well as the regular members of the first-team squad, the party was also boosted by the presence of Matthew Fry, Cristian Montano and Anthony Edgar - who had all figured in the 2-1 win at Peterborough United on Wednesday. Once some typical Friday afternoon traffic had been negotiated, the Hammers pulled into their training base and were almost immediately ready to go.
The squad all had a light meal before reconvening on the excellent training pitch adjoined to the hotel. The early part of the session saw them loosening up after the flight before but it was not long before the intensity picked up, despite the early evening temperature remaining in the mid 30s. Paul Groves and Kevin Keen were barking out the orders in constant consultation with the manager as David Coles put Marek Stech and Peter Kurucz through their paces.
Robert Green will arrive on Monday along with fellow World Cup performers Jonathan Spector, Mathew Upson and Valon Behrami. Meanwhile, new French striker Frederic Piquionne touched down in Munich overnight and was due to meet his new team-mates later on Saturday. Pablo Barrera has gone back to Mexico for a couple of days but news of his transfer was also well received.
Watch out later today on WHUTV for the first thoughts of manager Avram Grant on his new recruits while our cameras will also catch up with all the other behind the scenes news and views. The squad travel to Ruhpolding this evening for the first friendly match of the German camp - against VfL Borussia Monchengladbach.
