Vlad Op Explains All

Ever since being injured as the result of an unpunished off the ball tackle by Manchester United's Juan Mata back in November, Hammers all action defender Vlad 'the scourge of Grealish" Coufal has struggled to regain the type of form he displayed last season that had fans and pundits claiming that he was the best right back in the Premier League.

The final nail for Vlad came when he had to be substituted half way through the Leicester game, having been comprehensively 'skinned' on numerous occasions by James Maddison. Vlad looked so far off the pace it was feared that he had been stricken with a severe bout of 'illungaitus', an illness that makes a once brilliant footballer suddenly lose a yard of pace!

However it has now been revealed that Coufal has undergone a “successful” operation on the long standing groin injury he had been trying ti play through. On Thursday Hammers confirmed Coufal’s operation. A club statement read: “The 29-year-old defender has been troubled by an ongoing problem and, following specialist consultation, underwent an operation in London on Thursday morning.” Club head of medical Richard Collinge said: “Vladimir’s surgery went exactly as planned and he will begin his rehabilitation at Rush Green immediately.”

It is not clear how long Vlad will be out of action, but Ben Johnson is set to compete with Ryan Fredericks for the right back spot in the Czech International's absence. West Ham host Wolves on Sunday in a crucial game that will decide which club stays in the race for a Euro slot, things don't look too rosy as things stand, but then for some weird reason Hammers always seem to perform better when under duress.
We wish Vlad a speedy recovery and hope he returns to 'maraud' down the flanks as we have become accustomed to. LN