West Ham begin their Premier League campaign with a trip to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United on Sunday afternoon and go into the clash with high expectations for the 2021/22 season. Ahead of the clash, new Hammers assistant coach Billy McKinlay has revealed that West Ham’s Euro 2020 stars are all fit and ready to go despite their curtailed pre-season preparations. McKinlay returned to West Ham earlier this summer for a second spell on David Moyes’ coaching team and is thrilled to be back at the club.
Billy McKinlay said: “It’s been very good being back at West Ham United. I’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s been hectic with the last two or three weeks of pre-season, but I’m delighted to be back. There are really exciting times ahead for West Ham and I’m delighted to be back and part of them. Looking on from afar last year, it was pretty apparent that team spirit was one of the main contributors to what was a fantastic season for everybody. That’s been very evident already in my short time back, and I’m sure we’ll build on it.”
Ahead of the trip to Newcastle, McKinlay was in confident mood after an excellent Hammers pre-season. The assistant coach also revealed West Ham’s Euro 2020 players Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal and Andriy Yarmolenko are in contention among the groups.
Billy McKinlay added: “I think pre-season has gone well and we probably are where we’d hope to be in terms of a set level of performance. Fitness is always important, and we’ve got the Euro boys back fully now, so it’s been good to get them back in the squad. I think we’re in a decent place. There have been some good performances, and it’s important that you get that along with the fitness levels. It’s not absolutely crucial, but it gives you a little indicator of where you’re at. The level of performance last season was consistently high and we’re looking to replicate that again very quickly, so hopefully by the time Newcastle comes along we’ll be ready to go again.”
