West Ham veteran Vladimir Coufal’s deficiencies were on full display despite Czechia securing a 2-1 win over Georgia on Tuesday.
Coufal played the full 90 minutes at right wing-back as Czechia raced into an early 2-0 lead before being pegged back on the hour mark, seeing out the win to finish top of their UEFA Nations League group.
The Hammers defender picked up a stoppage-time booking amid a flurry of yellow cards for both sides, but it was his performance in possession which will have sparked some concerns in East London.
Vladimir Coufal will worry West Ham fans after mixed display
Playing as a wing-back gave Coufal plenty of work to do in Czechia’s concluding Nations League group, and while he impressed in defence, the 32-year-old’s attacking output left a lot to be desired.
At the back, Coufal put in a whopping 13 defensive actions in total [FotMob], with six clearances made, four ball recoveries, two blocks and an interception apiece, as well as winning his only attempted tackle.
Furthermore, he wasn’t dispossessed on a single occasion and only saw one Georgian player dribble past him, albeit committed one of his three fouls during this passage of play.
With Czechia on the front foot, however, Coufal struggled. Despite completing 77 per cent of his passes and playing nine into the final third [SofaScore], just one of his seven crosses found a target.
That’s a success rate of just 14 per cent [FotMob], and his other long-ball efforts weren’t much better with Coufal completing just 43 per cent (three from seven) as Czechia struggled to add to their lead.
Winning a mere two of his six ground duels (33 per cent success rate) was a sign that Coufal can’t go toe-to-toe with the world’s best nowadays, and it’s little wonder that despite not being a full international himself, Aaron Wan-Bissaka is now an automatic pick ahead of Coufal at the London Stadium.
