The phrase ‘absolute masterstroke’ is not all-too often associated with transfers either in or out of Premier League outfit West Ham United.
The more time passes, the worse the Tim Steidten era looks.
Steidten signed Max Kilman and Niclas Fullkrug for combined fees of nearly £60 million. And while the former technical director has always insisted that Luis Guilherme will come good at West Ham, reports emerged this week suggesting that the club may already be cut ties with the seldom-seen £25 million acquisition.
Even as Mateus Fernandes and El Hadji Malick Diouf begin accumulate their fair share of admirers in claret and blue, Hammers News learned this week that Mads Hermansen could be sold as early as the January transfer window should the right offer arrive.
Hermansen may have joined West Ham United a few months after Steidten’s departure, but the point still stands. Barring a few rare diamonds, the Londoners have wasted countless millions on fools’ gold.
In stark contrast, a summer of inspired additions at Hoffenheim has transformed last season’s relegation battlers into potential Champions League dark-horses. While still the most inky-black of stallions up against their thoroughbred rivals such as Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig, Hoffenheim can be ignored no longer.
Christian Ilzer’s sixth-place side roared back to stun Leipzig with a 3-1 win in Sinsheim. And, not for the first time this season, Vladimir Coufal provided the attacking inspiration from his right-back role.
Vladimir Coufal and Oliver Baumann celebrate after TSG Hoffenheim v RB Leipzig - Bundesliga
Photo by Simon Hofmann/Getty Images
Vladimir Coufal inspires Hoffenheim’s Champions League charge after West Ham United exit
Hoffenheim have taken to calling Coufal their ‘Mr Reliable’ following his excellent start to life in Germany.
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With four assists and one goal in his last five Bundesliga outings, the veteran Czech full-back is perhaps deserving of a more flashy, exciting nickname to reflect his unexpected emergence as one of the finest creative outlets in German football.
Coufal never scored a West Ham goal in five years in claret and blue. He needed only a few weeks to get off the mark at Hoffenheim.
A free-kick against Bayern Munich, no less. Albeit a heavily deflected one.
Since then, Coufal has racked up assists against Freiburg, St Pauli, Wolfsburg and Leipzig. Four matches in which Hoffenheim have picked up 10 points out of a possible 12, ensuring they go into the November international break within touching distance of the Champions League spots.
Ilzer called Coufal an ‘enormous asset’ at both ends of the pitch as Hoffenheim, who finished just above the relegation zone last term, edged a thriller with Wolfsburg. One week later, Coufal was the man who lit the fuse as Hoffenheim produced their biggest statement yet against Leipzig.
Coufal overtakes Malick Diouf as he is labelled an ‘absolute masterstroke’ of a signing
Malick Diouf earned comparisons to David Beckham early in his West Ham career due to his penchant for dropping inch-perfect crosses on a sixpence.
The cross Coufal delivered to create Tim Lemperle’s header versus Leipzig – putting the home side ahead for the first time in the match – was right out of the Beckham playbook too.
“In defence, the signing of right-back Vladimir Coufal can already be considered an absolute masterstroke,” German publication SWR wrote after Hoffenheim climbed to within three points of second spot in the table.
“The 33-year-old Czech, with a long history in England, tirelessly patrols the right flank like a locomotive.
“[Sporting director] Andreas Schicker made the perfect choice with Vladimir Coufal,” Kicker agree.
Malick Diouf became the first full-back to record three assists across Europe’s major leagues this term. Coufal has now overtaken the Senegalese starlet’s tally.
In fact, according to Stat Muse, only Bayer Leverkusen’s free-kick specialist Alejandro Grimaldo and Inter Milan flyer Federico Dimarco can better his total of five goal contributions.