WHZ Tactics: Dominant Coufal plays starring role in win against Leeds
West Ham United defender Vladimir Coufal enjoyed an imperious performance at Elland Road on Friday night.
The summer signing, who has been one of David Moyes’ unsung heroes this season, once again played a starring role to help the Hammers to all three points.
The win sends West Ham to within touching distance of the Premier League’s top four and supporters have the Czech star to thank for it.
Up against Jack Harrison on the left for Leeds, it was never going to be an easy game for Coufal.
The Manchester City loanee is a key element of Marcelo Bielsa’s attack, but Coufal afforded him little time or space on the ball.
As we see below, Coufal followed Harrison stride for stride and was quick to intercept what could have been a defence-splitting pass from Kalvin Phillips. It is a phase of play that epitomises what a frustrating evening it was for the Leeds winger.
Despite being the away side, the Hammers took the game to Leeds, specifically down their right flank where Jarrod Bowen enjoyed a lot of success.
This came from the advanced starting position of Coufal. Below we see the right-back challenging Harrison for a header inside the Leeds half from a long-range Illan Meslier pass.
Coufal restricted Harrison to just one accurate cross and two successful dribbles in the first half, as per Wyscout.
The Czech’s impressive first 45 minutes forced Bielsa into a change, with Harrison coming off for Helder Costa at half time.
It was not just defensively where Coufal impressed, his determination and work rate did not go unnoticed and he would consistently try to offer support to Bowen ahead of him.
With late runs into the box, below we can see a prime example of what he can offer in the final third.
Coufal meets a Sebastien Haller cross at the far side of the Leeds penalty area, in a duel that would eventually result in the corner that Tomas Soucek scored from.
Perhaps the biggest strength of West Ham’s performance on Friday night was the fact that they did not lose the attacking intent from the full-backs.
Having switched from a three-man to a four-man defence, the likes of Coufal still displayed the same willingness to get forward from deeper positions.
Football.london gave Coufal a 9/10 for his showing at Elland Road and it really was a near-perfect performance from the 28-year-old, up against an imposing but unpredictable Leeds United team.
In other West Ham news, new report details injury update on Arthur Masuaku