Yahoo Finance West Ham can fight on all fronts, says Vladimir Coufal as Hammers prepare to kick off in Europa League
Vladimir Coufal has rejected concerns about West Ham’s ability to cope with a demanding domestic and European schedule, insisting the squad has the depth and mentality to go all the way in the Europa League.
The Hammers will play their first non-qualifying match in Europe since losing in the first round of the 2006-07 UEFA Cup when they face Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League group stage this evening.
There are questions over whether David Moyes has the squad to compete on another front and match last season’s impressive sixth-place finish, but Coufal says the Hammers are targeting a place in the final in Seville.
“Our winning mentality is different now. We fight to win every game,” Coufal told Standard Sport. “We believe we can beat everyone in the Premier League and everyone in Europe. We’re very hard to play against and we will fight every minute on the pitch.
“It’s the [club’s] first time in Europe again for a long time, but we can be successful. We can go to the final. I would like to win the Europa League this season for the West Ham fans. We’ve signed some very good players and the squad is strong enough to fight for this competition, the Premier League and the [domestic] cups. We can be successful like last season.”
Key to West Ham’s hopes of success will be adapting to a new rhythm of playing regular midweek matches but Coufal prefers a more demanding schedule.
“I cannot speak for the [rest of the] guys but for me it’s simply the perfect situation,” he said. “I really enjoy playing every second or third day.
“I experienced it with [former clubs] Slovan Liberec and Slavia Prague, and with the [Czech Republic] national team as well. I’m glad we have a more demanding schedule with West Ham.”
Hammers captain Mark Noble, who could make his first start of the season in the Croatian capital, also targeted going all the way in the competition, despite their lack of European experience.
“We’re not used to being in the Europa,” Noble said. “But we are used to winning in the last year. We’re used to having that winning feeling. And it’s not something we want to give up just because we’re playing in Europe.”
Spanish clubs have dominated the Europa League this century, winning it in 11 of the previous 20 years. But with the Premier League increasingly in a different financial stratosphere to the rest of Europe, Coufal believes a new era of English dominance could be on the horizon — while the defender could not resist a dig at rivals Tottenham ahead of their inaugural Europa Conference League match at Rennes tonight.
“I know Spanish clubs have financial problems but not everything is about money,” Coufal said. “I now believe teams from the Premier League can win the Champions League and Europa League as well. West Ham, hopefully. And maybe Tottenham can win the Europa Conference League!”
With Manchester United the visitors to the London Stadium on Sunday, Moyes could opt to make changes tonight. Summer signing Kurt Zouma is expected to make his Hammers debut and Croatian Nikola Vlasic is pushing for a first start.
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