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It was fitting, really, that on a weekend in which Tomas Soucek marked his 200th Premier League start with a vital goal in a West Ham United win, Vladimir Coufal also broke new ground over in Germany.
Two long-time teammates and close friends are separated these days by around 550 miles and the English channel. Following Vladimir Coufal’s summer switch from East London to Sinsheim, this season is the first since 2017 that the two Europa Conference League winners are not sharing a dressing room week in, week out.
Yet even after 200 Premier League starts, Soucek remains as ‘unplayable’ as ever.
You have spoken! Where does this rank in Soucek’s best EVER games for West Ham? 👀
Credit: Getty Images/Richard Pelham
While West Ham United were on their way to a vital win over Everton, the Robin to Tomas Soucek’s box-crashing Batman provided his eighth assist of the Bundesliga season.
Thus, making 2025/26 the most productive league campaign of Coufal’s long career.
And what an assist it was.
Vladimir Coufal breaks new Bundesliga ground after West Ham United exit
“It’s a brilliant cross,” said the commentator on the official Bundesliga YouTube channel. One of the best assists I think we’ve seen in the Bundesliga this season.”
Coufal found himself in space on the right-hand side during a 2-1 away win at relegation-threatened Hamburg. His delivery was sumptuous and perfectly-placed; making the finish from a Barcelona-linked Fisnik Asllani pretty straightforward.
Photo by Simon Hofmann/Getty Images
“The crazy thing is, we practiced exactly this move yesterday in training,” beamed Asllani. “I saw Vlad getting ready on the wing and I knew exactly where the ball would land. I almost thought it was too long, but Vlad caught it strongly and put it right on my foot.
“It was copy and paste from the training ground!”
The veteran right-back had never provided more than seven assists in a single league campaign; a personal best set during the 2023/24 season with West Ham.
Coufal helping making Champions League qualification possible in Sinsheim; Hoffenheim are level on points with Stuttgart in fourth and can leapfrog their rivals in next weekend’s head-to-head clash. Not only that, he is scaling heights he has never scaled before.
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Coufal has twice as many assists as Trent Alexander-Arnold
Back in February, Coufal was named in WhoScored’s prospective Team of the Season. Statistically, the most in-form right-back throughout the whole of 2025/26.
Now, with only one month remaining, Coufal tops the charts with the most assists from his position in Europe’s major leagues. No one else comes close; Achraf Hakimi [five, PSG], Trent Alexander-Arnold [four, Real Madrid] and Konrad Laimer [four, Bayern Munich] choking on his dust.
While Soucek continues to defy those who predict his influence is waning, Coufal’s sensational Sinsheim season makes Graham Potter look madder than ever.
It was Potter who decided that Coufal’s contract should not be renewed.
West Ham have the option to extend Soucek’s by a further twelve months, meanwhile, and the good news is that Nuno Espirito Santo seems to have a far greater appreciation of the benefits of experience.
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