I came as an unknown player, in England they didn’t even know Slavia. A good start was the key, Coufal recalls his arrival at West Ham

He is in his third season in the Islands, the best one so far was the first one. West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal spoke to Sky Sports about his beginnings among England’s elite.

Vladimir Coufal has mentioned his dream of playing in the Premier League during his time at Slavia. When Slavia missed out on the Champions League play-offs in a memorable double-header with Midtjylland in the summer of 2020, the Susians let him go.

The national defender’s dream came true. He followed compatriot Tomáš Souček and signed at West Ham. The team’s fans had mixed feelings, after their experience with Soucek they didn’t write Coufal off, but at the same time they didn’t know him.

“For me, the first games after the transfer were extremely important. I came in as an unknown player with Champions League experience, but nobody knew about it,” Coufal told Sky Sports.

Coufal’s words are a bit exaggerated. The foreign media took notice of Slavia’s brave performance in the group stage against Dortmund, Inter Milan and Barcelona, especially the draws at San Siro (1-1) and Camp Nou (0-0).

Coufal transferred his form from Slavia to West Ham. On his debut, he held off a rampant Harvey Barnes of Leicester and the Hammers have lost only one of their first seven rounds since his arrival (1::2 to Liverpool).

“Slavia wasn’t that well known here. I had to adapt quickly to the Premier League. I played well, I started ideally,” continued the national defender.

In the third league round Coufal assisted against Manchester City and helped to draw 1:1. He finished his inaugural season in England with seven assists and according to the experts was the best right back in the league along with Trent Alexander Arnold.

Coufal was a sight to behold. He defended the stars he watched on TV a few months back, performing in the biggest stadiums in the world. And he helped the club to sixth place, which meant a ticket to the Europa League group stage.

“The atmosphere at the London Stadium is unbelievable. But the same is true of the other stadiums. Before I left Slavia, I used to watch them on TV. Now I play at them,” Coufal added.

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