West Ham United: BBC Sport chief details why clash v Freiburg scheduled for early kick-off
Simon Stone has revealed that the West Ham game against Freiburg has been scheduled for an early kick-off because it was viewed as the “least appealing” of the clashes involving British sides.
Writing on the BBC Sport website on Thursday (14 March), the journalist said it’s “rare” for European games to start in England at 05:45pm, but that it was decided to split the five British sides’ fixtures into two blocks to help domestic broadcaster TNT Sports.
He added that the Hammers’ second-leg tie against the Bundesliga outfit has the potential to be the “most exciting” of any of the matches given that David Moyes’s side are looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit at the London Stadium.
Early kick-off time a blow for West Ham against Freiburg
It was certainly disappointing for West Ham when they learned that the second leg would kick off in the earlier slot, with several tickets not being sold for the fixture.
The Hammers seemingly had no idea that it was even a possibility after they advertised the game as an 08:00pm start time before the draw was announced, leaving many fans frustrated after they had already bought tickets for the clash.
There is no doubt that it has given the German side the edge heading into the game as Moyes would have been counting on the supporters to get behind his team at the London Stadium.
The atmosphere inside the ground played a massive part in helping us pick up some big wins in Europe over the past couple of seasons and it’s unlikely those scenes will be replicated for this match.
But there is nothing we can do about it now other than give it our absolute all and hope that’s enough to see us through after suffering a narrow defeat last week.
In other West Ham news, sources have claimed a Premier League manager is now in the frame to replace Moyes.
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