West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal has been given an additional incentive to cease Manchester Metropolis from profitable the title on Sunday, due to his native cafe’s Arsenal-supporting proprietor.
If the Hammers keep away from defeat at Metropolis and Arsenal beat Everton then the Gunners will win the Premier League title – and Coufal won’t ever have to purchase a espresso once more.
“I have been offered free coffee for the rest of my life!” Coufal tells Sky Sports activities.
The 31-year-old has been flooded with motivational messages from Arsenal supporters, with some even hoping he can lastly finish his West Ham goalscoring duck this weekend.
Sunday nineteenth Could 3:00pm
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“I have many Arsenal fans around me,” he says. “My son is enjoying soccer, so I’ve huge Arsenal followers there.
“I received some messages from them like, ‘Your first goal in the Premier League is coming!’ and stuff like that. It would be really nice, but we will see.”
Coufal and West Ham even have the prospect to assist a former team-mate out, with Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice determined for a favour from his previous membership whom he left final summer season.
“I think he [Rice] was in touch with the English boys, but he didn’t text me!” he jokes. “He’s an Arsenal player, so he cares about Arsenal and about their performance.
Coufal might assist his ex-Hammers team-mate Declan Rice grow to be a Premier League winner at Arsenal on Sunday
“I haven’t been in touch with anyone at Arsenal, so they have their own fight and we have ours.”
In idea, West Ham don’t have anything to play for on the ultimate day of the season after their ninth-placed end was confirmed on Wednesday night time.
However the alternative to be Kingmakers within the vacation spot of the Premier League trophy is a novel one for Coufal, who desires to finish Metropolis’s dominance as they bid for an historic fourth consecutive league title.
“I’m really excited, to be honest,” he says. “I can’t wait to see the Premier League trophy for the first time so I’m really excited, and hopefully it’s going to be a very good game.
“It is nothing higher than to have an choice to resolve the Premier League title. We’re not contemplating the title, however we are able to resolve it, in order that’s good.
“It would be a great story that West Ham can cancel the Manchester City hegemony. They can be the first team to win it four times in a row, so it would be nice to stop it.”
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Talking on The Important Soccer Podcast, Peter Smith, Sam Blitz and Nick Wright assess Manchester Metropolis’s possibilities of holding their nerve and wrapping up the title on the ultimate day of the Premier League season
The chances, although, of denying Manchester Metropolis are firmly stacked in opposition to the Irons.
Metropolis are unbeaten of their final 16 league video games in opposition to West Ham (W13 D3), whereas the Hammers have misplaced 15 of their 17 league video games on the Etihad Stadium. They’re numbers Coufal is all too conscious of.
“It’s probably one of the toughest places to play football,” he says. “I know we don’t have a good record there – I would say a very bad record! But this streak has to finish sometimes, and why not on Sunday?”
Coufal ‘unhappy’ at Moyes exit
David Moyes received the Europa Convention League trophy at West Ham
Ending their Man Metropolis hoodoo in David Moyes’ closing recreation in cost would supply a becoming farewell for the West Ham boss after it was confirmed final week that he’ll depart the membership on the finish of the season.
“We are so happy that we gave him [Moyes] a positive send-off at home against Luton, and hopefully we will give him the same at Manchester City, but it’s going to be very, very tough,” Coufal says.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from West Ham’s win in opposition to Luton within the Premier League
“He knows this more than us, so it’s going to be difficult. But for everything he has done for the club, the players and for me personally, I would like to say goodbye in a positive way.”
Sending Moyes off in type is of explicit significance to Coufal after the Scot signed the right-back from Slavia Prague in October 2020.
“I’m so grateful [to Moyes],” says Coufal. “He gave me the chance to play in the Premier League. He trusted me when I was an unknown player.
Coufal was signed by Moyes in October 2020
“I’ll never forget that he was my first manager in the Premier League. I played so many games for him and I tried to never disappoint him.
“It was a really powerful interval, particularly at first, as a result of I got here from a distinct type of soccer. I wanted to enhance my defensive positioning, so I had many conferences with him and along with his teaching workers at first, and it was so useful for me.
“When I see my defensive positioning now, it’s much, much better.”
Coufal grew to become certainly one of Moyes’ most reliable gamers, having made 154 appearances in all competitions beneath him.
The Czech Republic worldwide additionally performed a key half in final 12 months’s Europa Convention League success that noticed Moyes information the Hammers to their first main trophy in 43 years.
Coufal is ‘grateful’ to Moyes after three-and-a-half-years enjoying beneath the Scot
It’s no shock that Coufal is upset to see the 61-year-old departing.
“We experienced so many emotional memories,” he says, “and these memories will be with me forever, so of course I’m sad in some way.”
Moyes’ exit comes amid criticism from some West Ham followers over his pragmatic type of play, however Coufal is totally supportive of his strategies.
“One thing what he [Moyes] taught me was that everybody cares just about the result,” Coufal says. “It would not matter the way you play. If we performed like we play now and we received the title, everybody could be so pleased, no one would criticise us.
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Talking on Monday Evening Soccer, Jamie Carragher and Ashley Younger have their say on the information that David Moyes will depart West Ham on the finish of the season
“The only thing that matters is just the result. It’s so pragmatic, but it’s true in the end. Look at Real Madrid this season, how they played at Manchester City [in the Champions League quarter-finals], but they got a result and they went through, so it’s so easy, but it’s true.”
Requested whether or not this results-based mentality was the explanation for West Ham’s European success, he replies: “Yeah, exactly. It was just so pragmatic, but we know it doesn’t matter how we play. We just needed to get a result, especially in the final against Fiorentina. It was just one game.
Coufal helped West Ham to Europa Convention League glory in June 2023
“Maybe [in the] post-game 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 – if we were the better team or the worse team. It doesn’t matter. We won a trophy after 43 years and everybody was really happy.
“I believe if we received this 12 months’s title or if we bought high 4 then all people could be actually pleased, and I believe the supervisor would lengthen his contract and no one would criticise him.”
Coufal on his future: My precedence is to remain at West Ham
West Ham are anticipated to interchange Moyes with ex-Actual Madrid boss Julen Lopetegui within the hope he can ship a extra thrilling and entertaining model of soccer.
However Coufal is sceptical of these supporters who crave type over substance.
Questioned how powerful will probably be for whoever replaces Moyes, Coufal replies: “In terms of the results, for sure.
“It is a very powerful job to take. Perhaps some followers will probably be pleased as a result of we possibly might play extra engaging soccer, however when you do not get a end result, no one cares the way you play.
“You can keep the ball 70 per cent of the time, you can create so many opportunities, you can score some goals but it’s not guaranteed you’ll get the result with these stats.”
The membership’s change of path will herald a brand new period for West Ham probably resulting in a summer season of upheaval after 4 and a half years of stability beneath Moyes.
“It’s a very, very unsecure job when you are a player and the club changes the manager,” admits Coufal. “It’s like you never know what can happen. The manager can bring a lot of players he knows, and then maybe he would like to play with them. You never know as a player.”
He provides: “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 soccer, so I do not like too many modifications. I prefer to have my very own routine and realizing what I can anticipate. It is going to be one thing new, and we are going to see what is going on to occur.”
Coufal’s unease at the managerial change coincides with him entering the last year of his West Ham contract, which expires in the summer of 2025.
Coufal confirmed there had been “some talks” over a contract extension, but with nothing signed yet speculation will continue around his future, which he clearly believes is at the London Stadium.
Coufal has made 46 appearances in all competitions this season for West Ham
“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.
“Me and my household, we have actually bought used to London. My son has college right here, and my daughter will begin subsequent 12 months.
“We’ve made new friends here, so my priority is absolutely to stay at West Ham, but we will see what happens because I have just one more year.”
If Coufal may help Arsenal win the title on Sunday then he will probably be much more determined to signal a brand new deal so he can take full benefit of that free espresso at his native cafe.
