Pablo Fornals and Vladimir Coufal would have been hoping for a joyous London Stadium homecoming when they returned to watch West Ham United take on Fulham in the first Premier League match after Christmas.
The two Europa Conference League winners were certainly, and rightly, given a heroes’ welcome at their own stomping ground.
But the sight of Pablo Fornals and Vladimir Coufal watching from the terraces while Raul Jimenez secured Fulham a win over their London neighbours served only to deepen the gloom.
Two players who would stroll into West Ham United’s starting XI these days, on current form at least, seeing their old employers circle the drain, powerless to prevent what is starting to feel increasingly like an irreversible slide into the Championship.
What should Nuno be telling his players at full-time? 💭
And what do you want to see against Wolves?
Pablo Fornals defends the quality of West Ham United’s squad
Pablo Fornals has been in ‘spectacular’ form at Real Betis this season.
Fornals even returned to the Spain squad after years away in November. Just to add to the bitter frustration enveloping all corners of the London Stadium, Fornals was replaced by Lucas Paqueta for all intents and purposes. At least, that is how the man himself sees it.
Ask 100 Hammers supporters now if they would take Fornals back while sending Paqueta the other way, and let’s just say the result would not be quite so tight as the Brexit ruling.
Vladimir Coufal has been pretty exceptional himself in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim.
While Kyle Walker-Peters was actually one of Nuno’s better performers against Fulham, the veteran right-back could have come in handy at a time when both of West Ham’s first-choice full-backs – Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf – are away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
In truth, Fornals was always likely to sugar-coat his response when asked pre-match how he felt upon his return to West Ham. His claims about this being a ‘really good side’ who are busting a gut in an attempt to claw their way out of danger will certainly have rang hollow among those who watched their team record an XG of 0.87 over the next 90-plus minutes.
“Really happy to be back,” Fornals was recorded as saying on the side of the pitch. “This morning when I was eating breakfast, I was watching the stadium from afar and I couldn’t stop [looking at] it.
“I encourage [the fans] to stick with the team. We have a really good team and the lads are trying their best.”
Vladimir Coufal questions a lack of leaders in Nuno Espirito Santo’s dressing room
This was not an issue of effort, but one of quality. Or a lack thereof.
Crysencio Summerville was blasted by a fanbase who have seen him score just one goal in 36 appearances, while Jarrod Bowen felt the need to apologise after squandering some of the few opportunities which came West Ham’s way.
The less said about Paqueta, meanwhile, the better.
How do West Ham solve a PROBLEM like Summerville?
Guess how many games it's been since his last goal…
Fornals and particularly Coufal fall some way shy of the Brazil number ten when it comes to ‘natural’ talent. But it was not through clever flicks or the occasional nutmeg that Fornals and Coufal became West Ham fan favourites.
Coufal believes West Ham are suffering now partly because they lost so many big characters in such a short space of time. He and Fornals being just two of those.
“What West Ham miss are characters like Mark [Noble] and Declan [Rice]. Their leadership was important to the changing room, and other players like Aaron [Cresswell], Micky [Antonio] and Angelo [Ogbonna] had a huge influence in the changing room,” Coufal told The Athletic.
‘They were the old guns.
“Jarrod is a great leader and the club would be in an even bigger mess without him. But it’s difficult to lead the team as an offensive player.
“Noble and Rice were midfielders and could see everything. If Jarrod wants to shout at someone, he could be on the other side of the pitch, which makes it harder. Noble and Rice were in the middle, so there was no hiding from them.
“Noble and Rice used to call team meetings if we were in tough moments. If Noble said something in the changing room, you kept quiet and listened. No one would dare say anything out of respect for him.
“Rice learned from Noble and became a great captain as a result. Without question, he will be the next England captain.
“I’m proud I got to share the changing room with both of them.”
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