There are a few rumblings on OM forums about why Bill is not back doing preseason training with the rest of the squad. Beilsa has been back since last Monday and all the Internationals who had been given extra time off have returned as well. Bill is the only player not there.
I can see why Hudson wanted such a crucial player for the Olympic playoffs and OM would have granted his request to play in PNG. But it is such a crucial time in a young players career that you want him to maximise on every chance he can get. By not being in Marseille he has gone to the bottom of the squad in terms of building up for the next season.
THe club will want to give him at least a week to recover from an international tournament...its standard practice. Bill will still be in PNG on the 12th/13th. OM head to Tunisia in a few days time for a game on the 18th(still provisional at this stage for security reasons) From there they head to Turkey for a tournamant with games against Fenebache and Real Betis 22nd and 25th. They then are back in France and play Livorno on the 28th. Then there is the primo pre season game.....OM vs Juventus on the 1st of August in Marseille.
Beilsa will have his starting 11 and bench sorted and well drilled before these games. The chance of Bill breaking in at a later stage is not great. Preseason is such a key part of the season...if you get game time and impress then you are on the front foot for the upcoming season
With all the departures from OM recently Bill had a great chance to get significant match day experiance against the likes of Juventus, Betis etc......instead he is in the arse end of the world playing PI age group teams
I hope Hudson knows what he is doing calling Bill into the Olympic squad....because he could well have set back a young players shot at the big time.