David Moyes shares early West Ham United team news v Olympiacos, Vladimir Coufal left behind
David Moyes has confirmed that right-back Vladimir Coufal will play no part for West Ham in their Europa League tie with Olympiacos.
Coufal is nursing an injury and did not board the plane with the rest of his team-mates that headed to Greece on Wednesday [25 October].
Every other member of the squad travelled, though, including Aaron Cresswell and Maxwel Cornet after recovering from injuries that kept them out of the squad against Aston Villa last weekend.
Providing an update on United’s squad ahead of the match on Thursday (26 October), Moyes is quoted by West Ham’s official website as saying: “The only one who hasn’t travelled is Vladi. He was just a bit tight, so I left him at home.
Asked if Cresswell was in line to feature, Moyes said: “Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson are both here. Johnson is probably a bit further ahead of Cressy at the moment but, if required, they’re both able to play.”
Step up
Coufal has started 10 of West Ham’s 11 matches in all competitions this season, as well as playing a couple of times for the Czech Republic, so there is a high probability he would have been used against Olympiacos.
This is not the worst time for the 31-year-old to rest up, but it does potentially leave Moyes with a major headache against Everton next weekend as left-back Emerson Palmieri is suspended.
Being without one of the two is bad enough, never mind both, so that may well be why Moyes is taking no risks over Coufal’s fitness against Olympiacos.
Judging by Moyes’ comments, it may well be that Johnson gets the nod at right-back at Karaiskakis Stadium as the Irons aim to extend their unbeaten run in European competition.
While a victory would be nice, a draw would keep United in a very strong position in Group A. Whoever it is that fills in at the back, let’s just hope they can step up.
In other West Ham news, the Irons are reportedly eyeing up a number of targets ahead of the January transfer window.