Whenever West Ham United players have spoken to the media during the Sunshine State Tour, the Florida climate has been a prominent line of questioning.
And that was no different when Maximilian Kilman met reporters at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa ahead of Saturday’s Stateside Cup meeting with Crystal Palace.
Temperatures have consistently topped 90F, while the high level of humidity has meant training sessions have been testing for Kilman and his new West Ham teammates, but the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man says the conditions will stand them in good stead when the Premier League season kicks-off back in England on 17 August.
With the weather set to break on Sunday when Tropical Storm Debby brings strong winds and heavy rain to Florida, it appears the Hammers might be heading home at the right time, but not before the players have built up valuable fitness.
“It is a different climate here and something we’ve been adjusting to but it’s quite good for pre-season as obviously the humidity helps with fitness and all that stuff so it’s all positive,” Kilman confirmed.
“Obviously the climate is the biggest factor. It’s much harder being here than in England, but as an athlete you have to adapt to any climate that you’re in and this is pre-season so it’s good to get more minutes in the legs and this makes it much harder. The plan is that, when we go back to England, we’ll be much fitter and ready for the start of the season.
“I’m still not used to it now. It’s been really difficult. We’ve had a lot of training sessions and it took a while to get used to it and I’m still not there now. I’m making sure I’ve got lots of sun cream on and making sure I’m staying hydrated and all that!
“The training sessions have definitely been intense but of course we’ve got lots of pressure and need to perform, so of course there’s going to be an increase in the intensity of training and the quality as we need to be ready for the start of the season.”
With more than 30 players now in Florida following the arrival of summer tournament internationals, and new signings potentially following Kilman into London Stadium soon, the defender has settled in quickly during his first month at the Club.
The 27-year-old has bonded with the likes of Aaron Cresswell, Danny Ings and James Ward-Prowse, and was among those who warmly welcomed Jarrod Bowen to the camp when the England forward flew in on Thursday.
“I feel settled and part of the group,” he confirmed. “This is a change for me, coming to a huge Club like West Ham, but everyone has been really welcoming and the players and the staff have made it really comforting coming in. Everyone has been really nice and really friendly, so I’m really happy to be here and am part of a good group. Seeing some top players coming back into that gives a big boost for us.
“We've got a new manager and I'm new here as well. It obviously takes a bit of time, but we've been making progress, working really hard and been training really well as a team, so our cohesion is growing, and hopefully we can keep improving.”
Kilman and his fellow Hammers will contest their fourth pre-season match and second Stateside Cup tie on Saturday evening, when they tackle Crystal Palace in a London derby with a difference at the 69,000-capacity Raymond James Stadium, the eye-catching home of the two-time NFL Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“We just saw the stadium and it’s huge!” the No26 enthused. “How it’s set up is unique and quite different to stadiums in the Premier League, so it’s interesting to see that.
“There are going to be two Premier League teams playing against each other and the Premier League is the best league in the world, so you're going to see top-quality players and two quality teams.
“I didn't know how many supporters we had in the States supporting West Ham, so that was great to see and they're all so polite and so welcoming and the impression I’ve got from Americans is that they’re all friendly and good people.
“Florida is a really lovely state and we’ve been to Tampa and Jacksonville and maybe I’ll come back in the future and visit Orlando and Miami as they’d be nice to see!”
