West Ham United defender Vladimir Coufal has struggled for regular game time at the London club this season.
Since the arrival of Julen Lopetegui, he has not been a regular starter for the Hammers and the player has now questioned the manager’s tactics after the game against Manchester City.
The defender revealed to the club’s official website that Manchester City exploited the flaws in their system quite easily during the first half, but the manager made the necessary changes at halftime and West Ham looked a lot better during the second half.
However, the Hammers are still getting used to the new system after having played in a different style under another manager for five seasons. Coufal believes that the players have a lot to learn and they are going to improve with time. The defender further stated that the players will have to work hard during the international break in order to get used to the manager’s methods.
“They (Man City) had a lot of chances in the first half, and it didn’t work out quite well to be honest, but we changed something for the second half, and I think it was much better as we had a lot more possession, created some chances, and also hit the post…” Coufal told West Ham’s website.
“We went to a back five and tried to get a bit higher up the pitch and put some pressure on them. I think it was working quite well until we conceded the third goal, and that won them the game.
“It’s totally different when you’ve been playing a different style under another manager for the last five years.
“It’s quite the opposite now as we are trying to keep ball and press, but we didn’t catch all the mistakes so far, so we have the international break to work on it.
“We have to take the positives from the games we’ve played so far in the Premier League, and we will be alright.”
West Ham have put together a talented squad and they have adequate depth in the side as well. It will be interesting to see if they can secure European qualification this season.
Lopetegui will certainly be expected to guide West Ham to a respectable finish this season. They have been competing in Europe in the last two seasons and the fans will certainly expect them to sustain that level in the coming seasons as well.
As for Coufal, he will hope to force his way into the starting lineup soon and hold down a regular spot in the side.