Vladimir Coufal interview: ‘West Ham decided to go in a different direction. I’m still not over it’
Vladimir Coufal left West Ham at the end of last season (MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
By Roshane Thomas
Vladimir Coufal and his wife Hana had tear-stained faces as they tried to digest the news they had not seen coming.
Six months on from his release by West Ham United, and Coufal has not quite recovered from the events of May 8. It started with the Czech Republic international arriving at the training ground to prepare for a Premier League fixture against Manchester United.
It had been a routine morning for a player who joined West Ham from Slavia Prague for £5million ($6.6m) in October 2020 — until he was hastily summoned to then-head coach Graham Potter’s office after training.
“I didn’t know why he wanted to see me,” Coufal tells The Athletic. “Then I thought it might be about me starting at Old Trafford because it couldn’t have been about me not doing well in the sessions, or being a bad presence around the team.
“That’s when Potter told me the club wouldn’t be extending my contract. I asked him why, and he said it was a club decision. Was it the manager who didn’t want me? The board? I have no idea. It was very disappointing. Our conversation lasted about 30 seconds. Five years at the club… for 30 seconds.
“The hardest moment was going home and telling my wife and kids. We cried and I was sad for her because she was leaving friends behind in London. My son (Nicolas, aged nine) had signed a contract with West Ham’s academy. I didn’t know how to explain to him that we would have to move to a new country. I was no longer good enough to stay at the club he loves. He started crying and didn’t want to speak to me for two days. He thought daddy would carry on at West Ham forever.
“I felt like it was my fault and I took it very personally.”
Vladimir Coufal, Hana and Nicolas say goodbye to West Ham’s fans at the end of last seasonRob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
Coufal’s emotions oscillated between rejection and anger. The right-back, who joined Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on a one-year deal in August, posted a heartfelt message to supporters on social media after making his final appearance, against Ipswich Town, on May 25. Coufal never scored for West Ham but registered 20 assists across 180 appearances.
Last season brought an end to Coufal, Aaron Cresswell, Michail Antonio and Danny Ings’ spells at the London Stadium. The quartet helped the club win the Europa Conference League under manager David Moyes in 2023, and they made a combined total of 969 appearances. Lukasz Fabianski was released following the expiry of his contract in June, but re-signed three months later.
Before West Ham’s 2-0 victory over Manchester United, Coufal had been backup to Aaron Wan-Bissaka. That game was only Coufal’s 10th league start of the season, with 11 of his 22 league appearances coming from the bench, but the full-back helped West Ham seal their first victory at Old Trafford since May 2007.
“After I received the news from Potter, I went to the sauna with Tomas (Soucek), and he asked me what happened,” Coufal recalls. “I said, ‘I’m leaving, bro’. He couldn’t believe it but we made a promise to win the next game. Me and Tomas always wanted to win at Old Trafford, and we did it.
“After the match, I FaceTimed my wife and son, and we were emotional. Honestly, I thought I was going to retire at West Ham. If they’d extended my contract by two years, or even given me a one-year deal with an option of a further year, I would have happily accepted it. I had it all pictured in my head that it would end this way.
Coufal on his phone after the game at Old Trafford in MayCatherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
“I’d be 35/36 by the end of my contract and I felt I still had something to offer, but it was the wrong manager at the wrong time. I didn’t fit into his plans and I was forced to leave, unfortunately. They decided to go in a different direction — and I’m still not over it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy at Hoffenheim, we are doing well (seventh in the Bundesliga) and we have a great manager (Christian Ilzer). But I still feel I could have proved myself in the Premier League.
“In January, Fulham made West Ham an offer, and it was a two-year contract. But Potter and his sporting director, whose name I don’t even remember (Kyle Macaulay), said no. I wasn’t allowed to go, then I got released. It was a strange decision.”
Although Coufal continues to ruminate over the events of his departure, his promising start to life at Hoffenheim has helped soften the blow. The full-back has scored once and registered four assists in 11 Bundesliga appearances.
“I’m impressed with so many things here,” says Coufal. “We have an unbelievable training ground, and it’s not even possible to compare it to West Ham. There’s everything you need. I love to stay at training after our sessions are over. We have a swimming pool and two padel courts. I’m blown away by how good it is. That’s why the boys are in no rush to go home.
“It wasn’t always like that at West Ham. I honestly wish they get a training ground like this one day. They need and deserve it.”
West Ham supporters appreciated Coufal for his work ethic, commitment and the way he embraced the club’s culture. Mark Noble, the sporting director, once mentioned on Peter Crouch’s podcast that Coufal waited for a bus after training. Another memorable moment includes the right-back brazenly applauding West Ham fans during a pitch invasion in their second-leg semi-final Europa League loss at Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2022.
“I wanted to thank our supporters because they were brilliant throughout the tournament,” says Coufal. “I didn’t feel in danger. I said to myself, ‘What can they do to me?’. I stayed there and it went viral on social media but the fans appreciated it a lot.”
Coufal’s confidence stems from his upbringing in the small village of Ludgerovice in the north east of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 4,900, and Coufal’s humble beginnings shaped his drive to prove doubters wrong at boyhood club Banik Ostrava, alma mater to former Liverpool striker Milan Baros and ex-West Ham defender Tomas Repka. Spells followed at FC Hlucin, Opava, Slovan Liberec and Slavia Prague, where he made 88 appearances from 2018-20.
It was in Prague where Coufal formed a close bond with Soucek, who joined West Ham on loan from Slavia in January 2020, before signing permanently that summer for £15m. Their proudest achievement was winning the UEFA Conference League against Fiorentina on home soil in Prague.
Given their bond, Coufal often took umbrage at any opposition player attempting to unsettle Soucek on the field. Last month, Coufal staunchly defended his former team-mate, who was criticised on social media for his performance in the 2-0 home loss to Brentford.
The full-back knew how it felt to be on the receiving end of harsh words from West Ham fans. In October 2022, after a 1-1 draw with Southampton in which he had played the whole match, Coufal deleted a post on X after receiving abuse from a minority of supporters.
“It’s something I always wanted to do (defend Soucek) when I was at the club, but I always talked myself out of it,” Coufal says. “Now I have no issues with arguing with fans on Twitter (X) because they should appreciate the players. The right fans know the players care and want to do well, but then you get some stupid fans on Twitter who try to bring negativity all the time. Then you get those who are sheep and let those opinions form their judgment.
“It was important to say something because Tomas doesn’t deserve that criticism. Sometimes he will have good and bad games but you can’t deny how much he will fight for that club. Me and Tomas used to go to training on our days off. We always tried our best to help the team. After the final whistle went against Fiorentina, I ran straight to Tomas. Me and him really got the club, the people and how important it was to win.”
On the subject of harsh treatment, Coufal was disappointed when Declan Rice, the former captain who joined Arsenal for £105million in July 2023, was booed by some fans on his first return to the London Stadium, four months after his departure. But while Coufal expresses his support for the 26-year-old England international, the conversation takes a sudden turn when he divulges his true thoughts about the club’s decline since Rice’s exit.
“I’d be lying if I said I was surprised when I found out Potter had been sacked,” says Coufal. “It was coming with the results not being good, the football not being great and the club being in the relegation zone.
“What West Ham miss are characters like Mark (Noble) and Declan (Rice). Their leadership was important to the changing room and other players like Aaron (Cresswell), Micky (Antonio) and Angelo (Ogbonna, who was released in June 2024) had a huge influence in the changing room. They were the old guns.
“When you have too many foreign players in the changing room, and they don’t have someone they respect, it creates a problem. Jarrod (Bowen) is a great leader and the club would be in an even bigger mess without him. But it’s difficult to lead the team as an offensive player. Noble and Rice were midfielders and could see everything. If Jarrod wants to shout at someone, he could be on the other side of the pitch, which makes it harder. Noble and Rice were in the middle, so there was no hiding from them.
“Noble and Rice used to call team meetings if we were in tough moments. If Noble said something in the changing room, you kept quiet and listened. No one would dare say anything out of respect for him. Rice learned from Noble and became a great captain as a result. Without question, he will be the next England captain. I’m proud I got to share the changing room with both of them.”
Coufal keeps a close eye on West Ham’s results and believes the club will avoid relegation. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are about to endure a tough schedule, with league games against Liverpool, Manchester United, Brighton & Hove Albion, Aston Villa and Fulham. Coufal has been speaking to The Athletic on the phone from Hoffenheim’s training ground as he prepares for Saturday’s encounter with Augsburg. In an ideal world, he would be lining up against Liverpool, but given he is over 400 miles away, the defender wants to ask fans for a favour.
“Please keep supporting the boys because they need all your support,” says Coufal. “When the team lose, they don’t do it on purpose. I know the boys want to be in a higher position. As a player, you really feel the support from the fans when you’re on the pitch. That’s what they need to show to the players and the new head coach. That’s when you really feel the love because whistling and booing won’t help them.
“I miss so many people at the club, from the people in the kitchen, the security boys, the player-care team and the kitman. I look forward to cheering on my old team-mates against Fulham (on December 27). I can’t wait to see you all again.”
