Bilic - We will work hard in Dubai

 

• Slaven Bilic says West Ham United will work hard on their fitness in Dubai
• Hammers jetted to the Emirate for a four-day warm-weather training camp on Wednesday evening
• Manager is also pleased with the 'maturity' in his squad following the Club's January transfer business

Slaven Bilic says his side will be working harder in Dubai than had they had remained on home turf at their Rush Green training ground.

West Ham United jetted out to the Middle East overnight on Wednesday and will spend four days training in more welcome temperatures of around 80 degrees.

While the weather forecast for the Emirate is for rain to fall over the duration of the Hammers’ stay, the manager says the change of scenery will be beneficial to the players and backroom staff in both body and mind.

“To be fair I told the Chairman [David Sullivan] that we’re going to train more there than we should do if we stayed here,” Bilic told Premier League Productions during Wednesday's successful London Stadium Family Fun Day.

“It’s very common in England [to go away to a warm-weather training camp], but since I’ve been here for a year-and-a-half, we have never been anywhere, because last year we were in the FA Cup and all that.

“So, we’re going to go there for four days and we’re going to train hard, so we’re going to raise our fitness for the remainder of the season, but also the players have to recharge their batteries and all that, so it’s a mixture of both. We’re going there to train.”

Bilic has taken a near-full first-team squad to Dubai, with Arthur Masuaku returning to full training this week and Diafra Sakho also travelling to work on his rehab following back surgery.

Andy Carroll and Aaron Cresswell will also work on their fitness after picking up knocks in recent weeks, while Andre Ayew is back after a short break following his exertions at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana.

We’re going to go there for four days and we’re going to train hard, so we’re going to raise our fitness for the remainder of the season, but also the players have to recharge their batteries and all that

Slaven Bilic

With Robert Snodgrass and Jose Fonte joining the Club in January, the manager believes his squad is in position to finish the 2016/17 Premier League season strongly on their return.

“We lost a world-class player in [Dimitri] Payet but we got two players in Snodgrass and Fonte who are the those [type of] players you need around the skipper [Mark Noble] to make your ‘government’ if you know what I mean!” he continued.

“Snodgrass is British and Fonte is Portuguese but he is also ‘home-grown’ because he has been here for ten years now, so we are more thick as a team, more mature, you know.”

Bilic says that maturity means he can trust his squad to iron out ‘small’ issues within the dressing room without the need for his interference, allowing him to maintain the manager/player relationship he requires to take the tougher, bigger decisions.

“It’s vital and crucial because, as a manager, of course you are the boss and have the power and responsibility but, especially when it comes down to small things, you can’t tell the players the same thing every day, because then you are losing power,” he explained.

“So, the best thing is when the players sort it out among themselves and you don’t have to interfere, which is why it’s important for me to have a core of English or British, let’s say home-grown, players.

“With that, it is much easier to have a successful group of players.”