In February 2017, he was a starter for a 15th-place Liberec fighting relegation. Two years later, he scored a crucial equalizer in Genk on the way to Europa League's R16. Now, a few more months down the road, he's a €6m Premier League player.

A Vladimír Coufal profile (THREAD):

A lot of what Coufal does is done in constant motion. He harasses opponents, bites without much overcommitment, is a speedster, and encourages one-twos. On the other hand, he isn't a dribbler, doesn't cut inside much, and his left foot tends to let him down on first-time passes.

TACTICS

To my knowledge, Coufal has only ever been a RWB on paper once, in a 2019/20 dead rubber with the title already sealed.

He loves to position himself high up, though, and be part of passing triangles. A quick knock down the line to release a RW/RCM is his specialty. 1/4

Ideally then, you'd have someone who runs the flank in front of him regularly as Coufal can weigh a long pass forward to perfection - be it the inside or outside channel.

He's an elite progressive passer, somehow averaging 88% accuracy with 20-40m passes over the last year. 2/4

One more important thing to note: at Slavia, fullbacks are key to the build-up while also having free-ish platform to get into the box to finish attacks off. Coufal does more of the former, Bořil more of the latter, but they're both involved heavily in all phases of the game. 3/4

Since 2019/20, Coufal averages 35,7 passes received per 90. For Fredericks, the average sits on 24,4 passes, which I find to be a considerable drop-off, stylistic perhaps. And if you're not ready to run attacks through wide areas, through Coufal, you're seriously missing out. 4/4

MOVEMENT

In Souček, WHU got the greatest marathon runner of the 2019/20 UCL group stages; in Coufal they're getting the 4th greatest one (2nd on the Slavia team). He's got at least two extra lungs and genuinely covers the entire flank, never dropping below 11km run per game. 1/3

Coufal boasts great top speed and was the main "chaser" in the Slavia backline - making up ground on attackers rather easily at times, even if his first 3 steps are a bit awkward.

To get himself going, Coufal scuttles a bit at first but once he hits that top gear, he flies. 2/3

Coufal also comes with a reputation for counter-pressing. Slightly bent forward, he harries and does so effectively.

Over the last year, only four players in the Czech league made more recoveries in final third while 4 of those led to a goal scored.

He's a fullback, yknow. 3/3

CROSSING

One thing to look forward to: the variety he brings.

He has perfected two types in particular: A) a whipped, sharp, slightly lower cross towards the front post or six-yard box; B) a "falling leaf" directed towards the far post, of ideal pace to hit a (half-)volley. 1/3

Indeed, while Fredericks almost always searches for a striker and targets the 6-yard box/space just in front of it, Coufal doesn't necessarily see a cross as the means to end an attack; every so often he sets up a finish indirectly, looking for the other fullback/late MF run. 2/3

Still, I have one major reservation re. his crossing: if given space (and not given options down the by-line), he will sometimes rush a cross from deep, essentially turning the ball over. He's not too comfortable with the ball at his feet (carrying it), which esp. shows here. 3/3

DEFENDING

In 2018/19 UEL, Coufal earned a bit of a reputation with me for reckless tackling, often (4x) resulting in a yellow. He resembled a battering ram struggling to stop moving in time so he doesn't just roll over the opponent.

Little reserved action, little patience. 1/2

He's worked on that tremendously, growing into a def duels stud (60% success rate even in the UCL group of death) and hardly ever kicking anyone. While Bořil fouled 56x in 28 league apps, Coufal did so only 15x across 32 starts, once going 18 full games without seeing a card. 2/2

VERDICT

I think Coufal does a decent job in PL and proves to be a bargain. He's got the physical tools, he's combative enough, & has positional nous and two-way presence managers value.

Whether Moyes manages to get the most out of him on attack, though, that I'm not sure about.

P.S. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint #WHUFC fans longing for Coufal-Souček goal connection. By my count, none of the 14 goals Souček scored from open play while Coufal was at Slavia was actually assisted by him.

But maybe this is the environment they've craved all along...