Vladimír Coufal: Debut win was a dream come true


As debuts go, Vladimír Coufal's at Leicester City on Sunday was hard to top.

Just three days after completing his transfer to West Ham United from Slavia Prague, Coufal was named in the starting XI at the King Power Stadium, helped his side shut out a team which had scored twelve goals in the opening three Premier League fixtures, and left the pitch at full time with a 3-0 victory and maximum points in his pocket.

Coufal slotted in seamlessly on the right hand side of a five-man Hammers defence as they recorded back-to-back wins, with successive clean sheets to boot.

The Czech Republic man could barely have scripted it any better, and he was quick to thank his teammates for the way they have helped him integrate.

Watch the goals from Sunday's win here

"It was the perfect debut for me," he beamed. "Before the match I was a little nervous, but I must say thank you to all my teammates because they've supported me every day since I joined, and especially Tomáš.

"He said to me: 'Don't be nervous, play your game', and I can only say thank you.

"I trained with my new teammates for only two days, but everybody has supported me. We have a good team and I hope we can win the next game too.

"The level of football in the Premier League was as high as I expected. It was very fast and very hard, but now it's a dream come true and perfect for me."


Vladimir Coufal celebrates at full time


Coufal hailed a tactically perfect approach from his side, as the Hammers limited the home side's threat, and made full use of their threat on the break, with Michail Antonio, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen all hitting the back of the net.

"We had very good tactics," Coufal continued. "We saw how Leicester played on video before the match and we kept a good shape.

"We played together, close to each other, and it worked well for us.

"When we got the ball, we had a fast counter-attack and it was the perfect tactics for today's match."

After hie whirlwind start to life in east London, the international break means Coufal will have to wait two weeks to step out onto the pitch in a Claret & Blue shirt again.

He cannot wait for that trip to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to come around and show that this was just the start.

"Everybody supported me and it's very important for me to feel this support from my teammates," he added.

"I hope that we will get stronger and stronger this year and I will do everything for everybody in this team."