Many words have been spilled on how and why Tomas Soucek scores so many goals from a defensive midfield position and there are some very articulate answers provided.
Aaron Cresswell, however, has a habit of putting things very simply and sums it up with his verdict on the goal that beat Everton at Goodison Park.
He simply believes the guy has the knack of being in the right place at the time, even for crosses and balls in that manage to take a massive declaration as was the case at Everton.
There’s a bit more to it than that for sure ceaseless running and looking for goalscoring positions is chief among them.
Given the work he gets through at the back and in breaking up attacks he wears me out just watching him.
And talking to www.whufc. com Cress explained his own and Tomas’ ‘link up’ which crffeated that winner.
Of the ball in which led to the strike he joked: “I didn’t shoot, it was a great ball in by me!”
“Tomas has got a knack of being in the right place at the right time, and with five goals in his last ten games…. I’ve just watched it and how he’s anticipated the ball, with a slight deflection, and to have the composure to tap it in, it was a great finish.
“Late on, nothing better. 1-0, clean sheet, happy days!
“Obviously Everton hadn’t played since the 26 [December], but we didn’t want to dwell on that or look for any sort of excuse.
“I thought at times we could’ve been better with the ball, but over the 90 minutes we created much better chances than them and fully deserved the win.”
Image courtesy of www.whufc.com
He’s loving the new spirit among the squad declaring: “That’s what makes a good team: team spirit, working hard, and as long as the lads give everything they’ve got, I’m sure we’ll do well this season.
“The fitness levels are credit to [fitness coaches] Dave Billows and Josh Ewens, who work really hard with us. Certainly over the last few weeks, recovery has been massive.
“To play three games over six days – and not only that, but also travelling down south and up north – is a credit to the lads and we’ve had some fantastic results looking back.
“We’re nearly halfway through the season. If we can go under the radar and keep going about our work the way we have, it’ll be good for us, but we know throughout the course of the season we’re not going to win every game against every single team, week in, week out.
“Hopefully we can all help each other out, hang in there and all this will blow over and we’ll get stadiums full again. That’s what we want.
“We want to play. Until we get told we can’t play any more, we’re going to continue to try to put smiles on faces.”
For that reason I wouldn’t be surprised to see Moyes playing Souchek upfront as a striker in the future. Souchek and Antonio as a front two would be pretty awesome. Souchek could be like Peter Crouch in his heyday.
Quite simply Souchek has the same mindset of a top striker. He gambles on an area where he thinks the ball will be played into. It is the skill of Anticipation. So many players nowadays don’t bother making runs like this, they are too lazy and rather wait for the ball came to their feet. Souchek has this skill set and so dies Antonio. This is the reason they score goals.
No one to replace him – he’s scoring goal regardless and why take away 60pc of his game?
All players should have the knack of being in the right place at the right time. Very little point in watching and then reacting. Anticipation and being involvement-ready are basic requirements for all players. At all times during the game, everyone ought to have a good reason for being where they are and doing what they’re doing. Soucek seems to do this particularly well. Notice that Yarmolenko was expecting to put this one away if it was not for the deflection. Great to see. But Soucek reaction was brilliant too. Cresswell also seems to do less ball-watching recently and this has made his performances much better.
In general – all looking good. Loads of promise in our play and we look as if we are capable of going further. I’m happy. Don’t really want to mess around in Europe, though. Finishing above 17th every year and maybe a Cup or two along the way will suit me just fine. Playing well and winning is great. Playing well and being unlucky sometimes is life. Enjoy the journey!!
COYI
He’s right team spirit and hard work , and togetherness. It’s great to see , I’m hoping we can finish 6-7th why not the lads have been great . It’s certainly putting a smile on my face , long may it last . COYI ⚒