Coufal slams West Ham: After finishing 9th in 2024 the club wanted to copy Man City...but be careful what you wish for

Exclusive by Alessandro Schiavone in Hoffenheim

Vladimir Coufal has lifted the lid on West Ham’s interminable demise, citing the club’s delusion as a key factor. 

There was a time, not so long ago, when West Ham were regularly playing in Europe.

Alongside winning the Conference League in 2024, the Hammers also reached the semi-final and the quarter-final of the Europa League in 2022 and 2024 respectively. 

Yet a ninth-place finish in 2024 was no longer deemed as good enough for members of the boardroom who were desperate to ditch the safety-first approach for a more entertaining brand of football.

Hence the mutual decision to part ways with legendary manager David Moyes was taken in the spring of two years ago.

Those European highs stand in stark contrast to the fortunes of present-day West Ham who are languishing in 18th and edging ever closer to the drop.

The Czech right-back warned that you should “be careful what you wish for” as life can bite you in the backside if you become too big for your boots.

He told Capital Football: “I am not part of the board, I wasn’t deciding about the incoming players and everything.

“But in my last season under David Moyes there, we were ninth I think and we were safe about relegation.

“I think we played until the last moment for the Europe football. 

“But after that they wanted something different… they wanted to play attractive football like Man City, scoring a lot of goals and it always hits you back. 

“Be careful what you wish for.”

When asked whether mistakes were made in the aftermath of winning the Conference League amid heavy transfer activity both ways, Coufal nodded and lamented a lack of proper leaders and an English core at the club.

He said: “It’s not absolutely a question for me. 

“I was focused on the changing room, on the boys. 

“We were a few leaders in the changing room and they were all gone after Graham Potter took the lead. 

“That was the biggest problem!

“I am not saying it was because of me, Cres, Michail Antonio, Danny Ings or other players [leaving].

“But I think in English clubs you need most of the time an English environment a bit. 

“And when you have a lot of foreign players which make up the group of players... it’s not always together.”

Yet the energy appears to have shifted since Nuno Espirito Santo’s arrival.

And Coufal confirmed: “I have messages now that the changing room absolutely changed since Nuno Espírito Santo took the lead. 

“It’s much, much better. 

“The boys are together again and everything is going really well. 

“The atmosphere is very positive and I hope that they will show it in the upcoming games.

“I miss West Ham a lot, I am following every game when I can and obviously I am a big fan of West Ham now and I really hope that they will survive this season.”

Now one of the best right-backs in the Bundesliga, Coufal, 33, credited the Hammers fans for cutting the squad slack provided they leave everything out there on the pitch.

He added: “The passionate fans forgive you everything just you have to leave everything on the pitch.

"I was very, very similar on the philosophy and I think the people appreciated it a lot."