“He Ditched the Leaders” West Ham Dressing Room Criticism Emerges From Former Defender Coufal

Former West Ham favourite and cult hero Vladimír Coufal has launched a swipe at former Hammers boss Graham Potter.

The Czech right-back was released by the Irons’ former manager at the end of last season when he was deemed surplus to requirements.

Coufal has since gone on to enjoy an excellent season in the Bundesliga, but it’s clear he still holds some resentment over the manner of his departure from the London Stadium.

As he made clear publicly at the time, Coufal’s preference was to sign a new West Ham contract and, with his son at the academy and his daughter starting a new school, it was obvious his desire was to remain in London.

However, Potter had other ideas.

Potter’s Squad Cull Still Divides Opinion

The Hammers boss was mandated with reducing the average age of the West Ham squad, which at the time was the second oldest in the Premier League.

As a result, he released Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell, Coufal and Łukasz Fabiański, although the Polish goalkeeper would later return.

Whilst Potter certainly did his job in bringing down the average age of the squad, there was also an accusation levelled against him that the clear-out inadvertently purged the club of character, leadership and personality.

Some even suggested it had been done on purpose in a bid to avoid so-called big characters.

Coufal Points To Dressing Room Changes

That is clearly something which has remained on Coufal’s mind because he was highly critical of Potter earlier today.

“I was focused on the changing room, on the boys. We were a few leaders in the changing room and they were all gone after Graham Potter took the lead. That was the biggest problem!

“I have messages now that the changing room changed since Nuno. It’s much, much better.”