Lukasz Fabianski says West Ham United are in the perfect place, both physically and mentally, to prepare for the 2019/20 Premier League season.
The Irons are currently two-thirds of the way through a ten-day training camp in the spa town of Bad Ragaz in the Swiss Alps, where they have enjoyed daily single, double and triple training sessions under the guidance of manager Manuel Pellegrini and his coaching staff.
While the work has been hard, Hammer of the Year Fabianski says the environment has meant the players have approached every session with smiles on their faces.
Sometimes it can make a big difference if you have a united group who has one target and wants to work together and enjoys it as well
Lukasz Fabianski
“I wasn’t here last year but I was here in 2006 with the Poland national team when we were preparing for the World Cup in Germany, so it’s been a long time!” the No1 smiled. “It’s really nice surroundings. I like it. The hotel, the quality of the pitches, the mountains, everything is beautiful.
“Sometimes maybe you don’t think about it or pay too much attention to it, but aside from the quality of the football and all the physical work, I think the atmosphere around the group is as important as the bits that I just said.
“Sometimes it can make a big difference if you have a united group who has one target and wants to work together and enjoys it as well. That’s really good.
“You have to enjoy it. One bit is obviously working hard, but the other aspect is that you have to enjoy it. If you don’t enjoy it, it’s hard to work, and I think all the boys are really enjoying the work we are doing.”
After being given an extra week’s holiday after his summer international commitments with Poland, Fabianski has been working alongside his new teammates Roberto and David Martin for the first time since arriving in Bad Ragaz on Sunday.
And the goalkeeper believes the positive atmosphere in and around the squad could be translated into positive performances when the new Premier League season kicks-off next month.
“For me, I just arrived on Sunday so I’ve just done a couple of days of training, so I need to get used to the demands and the speed of it. I’ve had quite a long break, almost four weeks, so you need to always put in a lot of hard work during the season to benefit during the season.
“That’s what it’s all about. The boys have worked really hard and I think they’ve enjoyed it as well, so hopefully that will be a big bonus for us when the season starts and, from a physical aspect, we will be at the highest level, so that should be good for us because it’s very important.”
