Vladimír Coufal is not going through his best time in West Ham, after his injury he lost his place in the basic line-up of the London club and he does not cope best with the unusual role of a substitute. The 29-year-old footballer in the podcast, which is preparing the project No Phrases in cooperation with the online daily Aktuálně.cz, also reacted to the fact that he had become a traitor in the eyes of many Slavia fans.
He contradicted a number of supporters of the Prague club against his controversial sentences about how he intended to force his dream engagement in England (you can read his statement HERE). But Coufal refuses to betray the stitchers.
“A lot of people understood that I betrayed a club that gave me a chance. I wouldn’t see it at all like this. I don’t want to defend myself, I don’t need it, but it was only in my head that I would boycott the matches. I never said that. “It just came to my mind as an extreme solution,” explains the national team defender.
His conscience is clean as he adds.
“I put 120 percent in all matches as always. I admit, I didn’t concentrate one practice before Teplice, when there was already an offer. It was the only time I wasn’t myself. But I was one of the best players in the matches.” he has no doubt.
He recorded two assists against Teplice. “Then at home with Midtjylland I saved something there and I left everything out there for Slavia to play in the Champions League, even though I already knew I was going to West Ham,” he said.
Moving to the Premier League was his lifelong dream and Coufal felt very close to him. And also that a similar chance may not arise in the future.
“Imagine that you work as a worker in a car factory, you take 30 to 40 thousand crowns. But your dream is to make in development, to design cars. Suddenly you get an offer. You can go for your dream, for example for 150 thousand a month,” to try to look at his situation from autumn 2020 through the lens of their field.
The football worker wanted to go after his dream no matter what. He did not have happy moments. Apart from the coaches and the management, only two of his best Slavic friends: Stanislav Tecl and Lukáš Masopust – knew about the behind-the-scenes drama.
“I think they were behind me too. And they would tell you I would never cough up a match,” says Coufal.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Slavia, Jaroslav Tvrdík, finally fulfilled his promise. According to Coufal, there was an agreement that he could leave the club in the event of a “dream” offer, which in his case was an interest in the English top competition.
He doesn’t care about Tvrdík’s past
“When the offer came, he didn’t like it, as did everyone in Slavia. But then he realized what he promised. I only see him positively. He always kept what he promised,” says the 29-year-old bek.
He can’t let Tvrdík go. “Look what he’s done with Slavia since he got in. Of course a lot of people don’t like him, for example because of his political past or working in companies, but I didn’t care before and I don’t care now. For me, what matters is the man did it for Slavia and for me, “Coufal explains.
He left for West Ham to meet Tomáš Souček at the beginning of October last year, immediately settled in the starting line-up and became one of the heroes of local fans.
The idyll lasted almost a year, but now the native of Ludgeřovice is not experiencing the best moments. Due to injuries, he dropped out of the team and in his place a 21-year-old Hammers breeder, Ben Johnson, caught up in his place.
“That’s the way it is in a foreign club. Someone will replace you and play well. The boys did well, they won everything, there was no reason to change it,” Coufal takes the situation realistically.
On the other hand, he admits how the current situation has a negative effect on him.
“It’s a difficult time, I’m experiencing it here for the first time. I don’t have the desire and motivation to prepare. It’s a sign of my personal life, I’m not so happy with my family. I try not to think about it, but logically everyone is interested, people around me and the media “I take it a lot, I don’t talk about it, I think about it a lot. I had a clear position, but now the well-being has completely disappeared,” confides Coufal.
Soccer place Paw patrol
Whereas in previous months he had lived football and watched most Premier League matches on television, as if he had now lost his appetite.
“I’ve limited it a lot, I don’t look at it, I don’t care. I’d rather play Paw Patrol with the kids. I’ll shut it down and relax,” he laughs.
He knows that only honest hard work will bring him back to the lineup. He knows that under no circumstances can he relax, on the contrary.
“I have to get over it in my head, to go the hard work I’ve always gone. I believe it will turn around again soon, it’s very fast in football. There’s no time to panic. We have clouds of matches ahead of me, so I’m not afraid did not get on the field, but of course you want to play mainly in the Premier League, “he confirms.
“If it took a long time, then maybe it would be time for a solution,” suggests a reluctance to become a full-time substitute.
West Ham has now lost two consecutive games in the league, on both Wolverhampton and Manchester City, so it is possible that Vladimir Coufal will have his chances. Over the next few days, the Hammers will play two more league duels at the London Stadium. They will face Brighton on Wednesday and Chelsea on Saturday.
.
