Vladimir Coufal has labelled David Moyes as an “orthodox pragmatist” ahead of the final 12 games of the season. The West Ham United boss has come under recent criticism with the club languishing in the bottom three prior to the international break. The Hammers have a game in hand on the two teams above them, Leicester City and Nottingham Forest and are currently one point below the Foxes who sit in 17th. football.london understands Moyes retains the backing of the board and while Coufal acknowledged the mounting pressure on the Scot, the right back called his manager a ‘pragmatist’ where the ‘end justifies the means’.
Vladimir Coufal said: “Pure pragmatist. The end justifies the means. I have probably never seen such an orthodox pragmatist, when he has results at the expense of everything, maybe sometimes even the game. There is a lot of pressure on him and he is putting pressure on us as well.”
West Ham bolstered the squad over the summer, bringing in over five players across multiple positions, from Thilo Kehrer and Nayef Agued in defence to Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca in midfield and attack respectively. Given the additions to a team that qualified for Europe last season, no-one excepted the east London outfit to be fighting relegation months later and Coufal speculated that the movement in the summer window forced the club to alter the way they play in order to accommodate the new additions.
Vladimir Coufal added: “None, I can’t understand it. Maybe the summer transfer window didn’t suit us, when a lot of new players arrived and we need time. We had a certain style that now has to be dug up and probably everything hasn’t fit yet. But I’m definitely not saying that it’s only the newcomers’ fault. In addition, we stopped scoring goals, we concede a lot simply, after our own mistakes. However, no one admits that we should not manage the season.”
Coufal missed West Ham’s last three Premier League games with a heel injury sustained against Nottingham Forrest but played in the Czech Republic’s victory over Poland on Friday night, grabbing an assist after only a minute.
