Carr's kids back in action

West Ham United will be back in action on Sunday at the 4th Annual Clyde Best Invitational Tournament in Bermuda.

The Hammers squad - made up of Academy players from the Under-15 and Under-16 sides at Little Heath - were forced to sit out on Saturday after strong winds continued to batter the island nation. The Hammers had opened the tournament on Friday night with a 2-0 defeat by strong French outfit AS Saint-Etienne.

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Saturday's match against Bermuda Grey will now take place on Monday evening, while Tony Carr's team will still play Bermuda Red as planned on Sunday. Although the adverse weather meant Saturday was a barren day in terms of action, there was plenty happening off the pitch.

A press conference was held to confirm a new partnership between the Bermuda Football Association and West Ham United International Academy. This "mutually beneficial relationship" will help "support the development of football in Bermuda via the BFA's national academy programme".

The link-up will help promote the International Academy's work across the CONCACAF region with partner clubs already up and running in the United States and Canada. Former Hammers favourite Best is involved with the Bermuda FA and is well aware of the positive work being done by the Hammers coaching staff.

Speaking to the Bermuda Royal Gazette, Carr was in reflective mood about the opening-night loss against St Etienne. "It was a disappointing performance from us, I expected a lot better. I thought we started very nervous, the boys are away from home, in a tournament type situation, and the boys were, very, very nervous.

"And I think it showed, especially our defending players. Our whole philosohpy is get the ball, pass it, and move it, and we couldn't get that going, and we didn't do that today."

The young Hammers - including England U16 forwards Matthias Fanimo and Blair Turgott along with Irish U16 attacker Kieran Sadlier, had gone closest through Dylan Tombides but Brahim Toutai and Biel Aouchavia were able to score unanswered strikes past goalkeeper Jake Larkins.

Carr hoped his teenagers would give a better account of themselves in the matches to come. "They were better than us on the night, but I know we can get better, so hopefully we'll learn from that and get better as the weekend goes on."