Coufal on being out of the lineup: I don’t have the desire and motivation to prepare. My well-being is gone

Vladimír Coufal joined West Ham last October and immediately joined the starting line-up. His amazing performances saw him ingratiate himself with the Hammers fans, who took an instant liking to him. But now, the national team full-back is going through a slightly more difficult period.

When West Ham bought Coufal last season, they knew he would go straight into the starting line-up. Ryan Fredericks was on the right side at the time, but his performances were very poor.

Coufal immediately took the right-back position and practically never let anyone in. With West Ham he fought his way up to the 6th place guaranteeing the Europa League, to which he contributed with seven assists.

He logically started this season in the starting line-up again, but as it often happens in football, the injury came at the least opportune moment. Coufal was injured before the national break, so he missed the October meeting and three more club matches afterwards. In his place, Ben Johnson jumped in and made the most of his chance.

In those three games West Ham won three times, first beating Everton 1: 0, then Genk 3: 0 and then Tottenham 1: 0. Moreover, Johnson helped significantly to three clean sheets, so there was no reason to take him out of the lineup even after Coufal’s recovery. Against Manchester City in the Cup, the Czech back started for 9 minutes, but Johnson contributed to the 1:0 win and another clean sheet.

He then further secured his position with a goal against Aston Villa in a 4-1 win. Coufal has thus become a momentary substitute, starting in the starting line-up in the Europa League and coming off the bench for the last minutes in the Premier League.

And Coufal is taking this position very hard. While he was used to starting every game before, now he has to wait for his chance again.

“That’s how it is at a foreign club. Someone replaces you and plays well. The boys were doing well, they were winning everything, there was no reason to change it,” Coufal describes his situation in the No Phrases podcast.

“It’s a difficult time, it’s my first time here. I don’t have the desire and motivation to prepare. It’s affecting my personal life, I’m not so happy with my family. I try not to think about it, but logically everybody 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 was in a clear position, but now the comfort has completely disappeared,” admits Coufal.

“I’ve reduced watching the Premier League a lot, I don’t watch it, I’m not interested in it. I prefer to watch Paw Patrol with my kids. I switch off and relax, ” says the 29-year-old footballer of how he is over the whole situation.

While Moyes praises Johnson’s work, the Hammers have lost two Premier League games in a row. First they lost to Wolverhampton, then at the weekend they lost to Manchester City. West Ham have a home double header this week, challenging Brighton at the London Stadium on Wednesday and Chelsea on Saturday.

And in one of the duels, Coufal could get a chance again. After all, some fans who miss the Czech international in the starting line-up are also calling for it.

West Ham will have a very busy December. Christmas is traditionally a football holiday in the Premier League, with one Europa League game to play. And before Christmas, the Hammers have an EFL Cup quarter-final against Tottenham.

“I have to overcome this in my head, to go the way of hard work that I have always gone. I believe it will turn around soon, it’s very fast in football. There is no time to panic. We have a lot of games ahead of us, so I’m not worried about not getting on the pitch, but of course you want to play mainly in the Premier League,” Coufal added.

Source: No Phrases Podcast