West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal earned an extra incentive to save Manchester City from winning the title on Sunday, thanks to the owner of his local café, which backs Arsenal.
If the Hammers beat City and Arsenal beat Everton, the Gunners will win the Premier League name and Coufal will never have to buy coffee again.
“I had loose coffee for the rest of my life!” Coufal tells Sky Sports.
The 31-year-old has been inundated with motivational messages from Arsenal fans, with some even hoping he can finally end his goalscoring fraud at West Ham this week.
“I have a lot of Arsenal enthusiasts around me,” he says. My son plays football, that’s why I have Arsenal fans there.
“I’ve had messages from them like: ‘Your first Premier League goal is coming!’and things like that. It would be nice, but we’ll see. “
Coufal and West Ham also have a chance for a former teammate, with Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice desperate for a favour from his former club he left last summer.
“I think [Rice] was in contact with the English guys, but he didn’t send me any text messages!”He’s kidding. ” He’s an Arsenal player, so he cares about Arsenal and their performances.
“I haven’t been in contact with Arsenal, so they have their own fight and we have ours. “
In theory, West Ham have nothing to play for on the final day of the season after confirming their ninth-place finish on Wednesday night.
But the chance to be kingmakers in the fate of the Premier League trophy is unique to Coufal, who wants to end City’s dominance while aiming for a historic fourth consecutive league title.
“To be honest, I’m really excited,” he says. I’m really looking forward to seeing the Premier League trophy for the first time, so I’m really excited and it’s going to be a really smart game.
“There’s nothing better than having the chance to win the Premier League title. We’re not looking for the title, but we can do it, so that’s good. “
“It would be a wonderful story if West Ham could cancel Manchester City’s hegemony. They may be the first team to win it 4 times in a row, so it would be wonderful to avoid that. “
However, the chances of rejecting Manchester City are firmly the Irons.
City are unbeaten in their last 16 league games against West Ham (W13 D3), while the Hammers have lost 15 of their 17 league games at the Etihad Stadium. These are figures that Coufal is well aware of.
“It’s probably one of the hardest places to play football,” he says. “I know we don’t have a good track record there, I’d say a very bad track record!But this series has to end, and why not on Sunday?”
Ending his Manchester City voodoo in David Moyes’ final game would be a fitting farewell for the West Ham manager after he proved last week he would leave the club at the end of the season.
“We’re very pleased to have given Moyes a positive send-off at home to Luton, and we’re doing the same at Manchester City, but it’s going to be very, very difficult,” Coufal said.
“He knows it better than we do, so it’s going to be tough. But for everything he’s done for the club, for the players and for me personally, I’d like to say goodbye to him in a positive way. “
Sending Moyes tastefully is especially for Coufal after the Scot signed the right-back from Slavia Prague in October 2020.
“I’m very grateful [to Moyes],” he says Coufal. Me gave him the chance to play in the Premier League. He trusted me when I was an unknown player.
“I will never say he was my first manager in the Premier League. I played a lot of matches for him and never tried to disappoint him.
“It was a very difficult moment, especially at the beginning, because I come from a different football. I needed my defensive position, so I had a lot of meetings with him and his coaching staff at the beginning, and that was very helpful for me.
“When I look at my defensive position now, it’s so much better. “
Coufal has one of Moyes’ most reliable players, having made 154 appearances in all competitions under his management.
The Czech also played a key role in the success of last year’s Europa Conference League, in which Moyes helped the Hammers to their first major trophy in 43 years.
It’s no surprise that Coufal is disappointed by the departure of the 61-year-old.
“We’ve had so many emotional memories,” he says, “and those memories will stay with me forever, so of course I’m kind of unhappy. “
Moyes’ departure comes amid complaints from some West Ham enthusiasts about his pragmatic taste in the game, but Coufal fully supports his methods.
“One thing he [Moyes] taught me is that everybody cares about the outcome,” Coufal says. “It doesn’t matter how you play. If we played the way we play now and won the title, everyone would be so satisfied that no one would criticize us.
“The only thing that worries us is the result. It’s very pragmatic, but in the end it’s true. Look at Real Madrid this season, how they played Manchester City [in the Champions League quarter-finals], but they gave them a result. And they succeeded, so it’s very easy, but it’s true. “
Asked if this results-based mentality explains West Ham’s European success, he replied: “Yes, exactly. He’s very pragmatic, but we know how we play, it doesn’t matter. We just needed to get a result, especially in the final. “opposed to the Fiorentina. Es only one party.
“Maybe [in] the post-match interview someone would care how we played, someone would remind you of your stats, but months later we now have a trophy and nobody cares how we played, whether we were the best team or the best. “The worst. Never mind. We won a trophy after 43 years and everyone was happy.
“I think if we won the title this year or finished in the top four, then everyone would be happy and I think the coach would extend his contract and no one would criticize him. “
West Ham are expected to update Moyes with former Real Madrid manager Julen Lopetegui in the hope that he can enjoy more exciting and entertaining football.
But Coufal is skeptical of those followers who like the taste of the substance.
When asked about who will update Moyes, Coufal replied: “In terms of results, for sure.
“It’s a very complicated task. Maybe some enthusiasts are satisfied that we can play hotter football, but when you don’t get a result, no one cares how you play.
“You can keep the ball 70% of the time, you can create a lot of chances, you can score goals, but you’re not guaranteed to get the result with those stats. “
The club’s replacement in control will bring a new era for West Ham, which could lead to a summer of upheaval after four-and-a-half years of stability under Moyes.
“It’s a very, very precarious task when you’re a player and the club’s director of adjustments,” Coufal admits. “It’s like you never know what can happen. The coach can bring in a lot of players he knows and would like to play with. As a player, you never know. “
He added: “It’s going to be a very big change, because we knew what to expect from him [Moyes]. He knew exactly what to expect from us.
“I’m a bit conservative in football, so I don’t like too many changes. I like to have my own regimen and know what to expect. It won’t be anything new and we’ll see what happens. “
Coufal’s discomfort with the update at the helm coincides with the arrival of the final year of his contract at West Ham, which expires in the summer of 2025.
Coufal claimed that there were “some discussions” about a contract extension, but as nothing has been signed yet, speculation will continue about his future, which he says is obviously at the London Stadium.
“My priority, of course, is to stay at West Ham,” he admits, “because I love this club, I love the people here and the fans.
“My family and I have become accustomed to London. My son will go to school here and my daughter will start next year.
“We’ve made some new friends here, so my priority is to stay at West Ham, but we’ll see what happens because I’ve only got one year left. “
If Coufal can get Arsenal to win the title on Sunday, he will be even more desperate to sign a new deal so he can make the most of that loose coffee at his local café.
Watch Man City vs West Ham in the Sky Sports Main Event on Sunday from 3pm. m. ; Start at four o’clock in the afternoon.