West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has told the Daily Mirror he is thankful of both David Sullivan and Karren Brady for granting his pre-season wishes.
Having had pre-season preparations tampered by Europa League qualifying over the past two summers, Bilic was keen to get it right this time around and requested that his players stay on their European tour for as long as possible to ensure correct preparation ahead of the new campaign.
“I have been here for two-years and both of the last two pre-seasons were taken up by us having Europe League qualifiers,” Bilic said.
“We had to come back early and it was not a proper pre-season. I asked the Chairman and Karren Brady and they understood the situation.
“They said ‘let’s do it your way’. We are just concentrating on training and resting. We have been to Austria and are going to Germany. I have to thank the board, especially the chairman and Karren for letting us have this kind of pre-season which is crucial.”
The Hammers remain unbeaten thus far in pre-season having taken on both Strum Graz II and Fulham, but face their biggest challenge yet when they take on Werder Bremen in back to back fixtures next week forth Betway Cup.
