Presenter ExWHUemployee has revealed that West Ham United manager David Moyes is against playing preseason games overseas but the club are keen on the idea.
In a recent article reported by The Athletic, it was announced that some Premier League games may soon be played in the United States do commercial reasons.
Indeed, the story claims that next summer around six English clubs could be divided across two groups, each playing round-robin friendlies in multiple cities on the east and west coasts of the US.
The article also says 14 of the 20 clubs in the top flight are keen on the idea, but the ‘intentions of the so-called “Big Six” are less clear’. And so, while West Ham may be on board with the idea at executive level, Moyes may not be so happy about the plans.
Indeed, when speaking on The West Ham Way podcast, Ex outlined his full understanding of the situation.
He said (12:00): “So the situation with West Ham, I followed it up today to see where we stand. Now the club, the owners, the chairman, etc, think it’s a good idea.
“I think it’s a great idea to raise the profile of the club within America and obviously there’ll be financial benefits of doing it as well. But David Moyes is very against long-distance preseason tours, hence why the Australian one was never revisited – much to your and my disappointment.
“And [that is] why it is unlikely that we will go. The club wants to go but ultimately, and rightly so, that decision comes down to the manager. And as I previously stated, the manager doesn’t like long-distance foreign trips.
“So it’s whether he can be persuaded that financially, it’s the best thing for the club, or wherever he will stick to his guns and say that physically, it’s not the best thing for the players.”
TIF Thoughts on David Moyes and West Ham…
It certainly does seem as though Moyes is pretty unwilling to take his team across the globe as he doesn’t like to risk the fatigue that may put upon his players.
For instance, over the past summer, he turned down a ‘lucrative’ pre-season tour opportunity in Australia in favour of staying closer to home and playing games in St Andrews in Scotland.
Seeing as Moyes has previous on such issues, it’s no surprise to hear his stance now but with those higher up in the club supposedly keen on the idea, he may well have to acquiesce to their demands – especially as a US tour would bring in significant financial and commercial reward.
It looks like this is one to keep an eye on as it develops over the coming months.
Should West Ham be part of these US tours?
Yes
No
