Tomáš Souček is a great guy, has scored some crucial goals, and his commitment to West Ham can’t be questioned. But sentiment shouldn’t cloud reality — for the good of the team, it’s time to move him on.
Some fans point to his goals and argue he’s a match-winner. But that’s lazy analysis. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll see why Souček has become part of the problem in our midfield.
Here are the hard facts from the 2024/25 season:
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Distance covered: He jogged 140km, more than any Premier League player. Lots of stamina, yes — but jogging isn’t defending.
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Passing stats: Only 73.8% pass completion overall, and just 79.6% on short passes. That’s worse than 98% of Premier League midfielders. You can’t win games if you can’t reliably pass the ball.
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Pace issues: Among the five slowest outfield players in the league, clocking just 29.4 km/h. Compare that with Matheus Nunes at 36.7 km/h — a huge gap when trying to defend or launch fast attacks.
Yes, he chipped in with nine goals last season, but how many opportunities did his lack of pace, poor tackling, and weak passing cost us?
The solution is simple: either cash in now or change his role. Keep him out of midfield and instead deploy him as a late-game second striker, where his aerial threat and finishing can be used without exposing his flaws.
Lovely bloke, loyal Hammer — but West Ham need evolution, not nostalgia.
Guest post by Dan Hill
Souchecks my favourite player so I don’t care what the stats men say.
Longer term yes, but not in this window.
All well and good clearing the decks but you need a squad in the prem and i would hardly say we have depth should we suffer a few injuries.
We would only murder him away for peanuts so I would keep him as an impact sub if you’re 1 down and need a goal in the last 20-15 mins.
So he isn’t tactically arriving late in the box, he is just slow!
Goodness… did you read the full article, Matt? There’s no doubt that he has a skill in that regard, and I’m not saying he doesn’t have ability. Just not in the area he is deployed…
These stats do not show what he does as a player. He covers that distance to close space and pressure the ball, the problem is he does this with little support so there is an outball available. Without him the gaps in the middle would be even bigger. However you cant decide to implement a high press with a deep defensive line or you create space which is the problem. Our cbs cant head the ball or have the pace to get back so stay deeper than they should, this effectively makes the wingbacks additional fullbacks or simply wasted. Soucek is great for czech because the team play as a team as his effort serves a purpose.
Sorry, ‘Anon’ but I don’t agree. Covering the distance means nothing if you’re not going to put pressure on the ball or find space to receive the ball (and then actually do something with it, which he doesn’t)… Opposition players know they can easily get away from him, or they just shield the ball and he runs into the back of them and gives away a foul… Watch him closely and you’ll see…
Soucek might be great for the Czech, but the Czech team is a shadow of its former self, so I’m not sure that’s a good yardstick… I’m sure Soucek would be great in League 1 too…
The challenge now is that we are looking for Potter’s system – the 3-5-2 (or 5-3-2)
So there are 3 midfielders – one of whom is attacking – the number 1 choice (for now) is Paqueta – but Tomas could also play in that role
So we need pacy midfielders – of which there are two – and I wouldn’t play Tomas as one of those (and I also wouldn’t play JWP as one of those)
The problem is that we are not sure how long Potter will still be in charge – and if he leaves whoever comes in might opt for 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 – and then we might want Tomas
So I believe that it would be foolish to sell him now – we could re-assess in January
Rodriguez and JWP are bigger problems than Soucek, as any fan will tell you.
Defensively he’s the only player we have who can defend a corner. Offensively he’s more likely to head a winner than Füllkrug who is employed for that very reason. The only reason to sell him is he’s the only one worth anything, Sullivan has stashed away a fortune in wages this summer so the claims of PSR worries are pure LIES.
Could not have put it better myself.
The only place for Soucek now is on the bench. He should never start a game as a midfielder again. He’s a liability there. Offers nothing.
Use him up front for the last 20 minutes of games where we need to nick a goal (most games!).
Otherwise, sell him.
Well that’s spot on for me!
Loyal lovely bloke popped up with a goal saved our bacon more than once, but in any formation starting from midfield sadly I think he is not first on the team sheet.
If he starts I would play him behind the striker in that
3-4-2-1-1 formation, or from sub with 25/30 mins to go.
The formation doesn’t work for how we are playing, but even going back to a basic 4-4-2 where does Soucek fit? Saying that he plays ok for Czech team with no complaints !!
In our Czech mate we trust ⚒️
I’d actually try him as a our number one Striker
Because he actually scores goals and because pace is Potters kryptonite, then maybe it’ll work
It’s not a bad shout, then allow Bowen back out to the wing to deliver crosses, where he does his best work! I’d then put Marshall next to him to feed off his headers, like Nolan & Carroll did for Newcastle. That would be fun!
Great post Daz. Shame nobody at the club will have looked at those stats
Thanks mate. Perhaps Macaulay could run the stats on our existing squad, rather than just new players…
The comment makes sense. I agree, keep Tomas as an impact striker. He can also help defend corners too.
I’d have no problem with him going upfront for the last 10, as long as he doesn’t wander back into midfield and the team were able to launch crosses into the box.
Thank you. Feel like I’ve been howling at the moon about this one for a long time.
For all the good things he has done, I have never seen him put in any crunching tackles or make a decent pass of more than five yards and he couldn’t dominate a midfield if he was dressed head to toe in leather holding a bull whip.
I’d rather see JWP go before Soucek.
There may be some truth in the statistics quoted, but they don’t measure his bravery, determination, loyalty and his ability to ghost into the penalty area and score vital goals. Tomas may not be the most dynamic midfielder, but the team needs to retain him… they’d be even worse without him!
Suffolk – there is total truth in the stats quoted – they are fact. Sadly, someone who is brave, determined and loyal, but can’t get anywhere near the ball in the middle of the park is not much help… Ghosting into the box, I grant you, is useful, but not when our entire midfield is slower than my granny.
Spot on. “Scoreboard fans” just see goals scored but not the impact to the team Soucek has now we have moved away from the low block, low possession and countering style under Moyes. He, like JWP are just not built for central midfield in a league that faster and more athletic every season.
Thanks, SirAlfred. I totally agree with you. With a stand-off low block setup, I suspect he is more effective as there’s no doubt he can head the ball in either box. In the middle of the park, whether we’re fast or slow, he just doesn’t have it in him, and if you watch, the team rarely pass to him if they can avoid it. He just runs around a bit and points randomly at things…
Stats fans are pointing to the stats and discounting the important ones like distance run and goals scored or even just the difference the player makes to the team in general.
Hes the best weve got Would have been relegated last season without him
Sorry, Mick, but I don’t agree. Let’s look at the games he scored in last season as a GUIDE – I appreciate there were other interventions and it’s all conjecture…
I will show the score WITHOUT HIS GOAL and indicate if we would’ve lost points:
v Crystal Palace. 1-0 win. 0 points lost.
v Brentford. 1-0 loss. 1 point lost.
v Newcastle. 1-0 win. 0 points lost.
v Wolves. 1-1 draw. 2 points lost.
v Fulham. 2-2 draw. 2 points lost.
v Leicester. 1-0 win. 0 points lost.
v Everton. 1-0 loss. 1 point lost.
v Brighton. 3-1 loss. 0 points lost.
v Man United. 1-0 win. 0 points lost.
That’s a total of 6 points fewer, meaning we would’ve finished 17th with 37 points. To be fair to him, that probably earned Sullivan an extra £6m to squirrel away… 😉
Possession is nonsense, Rodriguez has high passing stats but who would you prefer on the pitch.
Neither
Sorry, Dave, but I don’t agree. Possession is not ‘nonsense’ at all – it’s a pretty important facet of a team’s attack and ability to score…
But I do agree that it’s not ALL about possession, and my stats aren’t…
I also agree that I don’t want either of them on the pitch. Neither of them have the skills to make up for their dire lack of pace.
Can’t disagree with you mate. He’s been a good player for us but he’s simply not up to it now. He can’t carry the ball forward and has not got the legs anymore unfortunately
Not suggesting he is the first name on team sheet,but with an athletic midfielder next to him . Still worth keeping .
These are all valid points in the post. My challenge would be have these stats ever changed. Tomas has never been the player to smoothly move the ball around, play the killer pass etc. However, not only does he score (something the rest of the team struggle with bar Bowen) but he is great at defending our box.
That said, if we are to start playing a faster game, pressing high and generally being much higher up the pitch, then I appreciate that would highlight his deficincies more, particularly the need for quick, crisp passing and getting back quickly if the opposition break.
Always a Hammer, whatever happens to him. Bravest since Bonzo as well
Agree Martin61 – there’s no denying that he’ll be remembered fondly, but the team has to evolve.
Couldn’t of put it better myself, should of gone last season but what really worries me is that people at the club haven’t seen this, if we had a structure in place he’d of been sold and a replacement would of been found but when you haven’t got an identity it’s hard to scout players properly which is why we use the scatter gun approach which will ultimately be the reason we get relegated
Yes maybe we should, but not until we have someone who can replace him and be honest Kate, we have none even close just now.
Hi Jeff. I wrote the article – Kate kindly posted it for me. 🙂
I agree with you, and hopefully our inbound signings will do the job. My point was that I don’t want us to be relying on him anymore, and him being sold would result in a better replacement arriving.
Completely agree, being saying exactly this since last season. He is nowhere near the same player that first arrived.
He’s really slow, poor ball control and ball retention and poor passing accuracy. Like JWP and Rodriguez that makes him not defensive or creative and ineffective.
He runs a lot but slowly and to little effect, his contribution remains scoring goals by being in the right place and his heading (offensive and defensive) . If we don’t sell him to me he should never start and be ‘a might get a goal’ sub.
Just makes Potter look so ridiculous he picks JWP, Rodriguez and Soucek – can he really not see the problem?.
Sadly, it doesn’t look like he can see the problem, no. Which is a far bigger reflection on Potter than it is on any of those three. Beggars belief. What on earth is he basing his decisions on, when he must see it in training every day…
Well…
Where would we have been without his 9 goals last season?
My point is the OPPORTUNITY COST, mate. His 9 goals are easy to see and acknowledge, but are only one side of the scales.
The resulting COST for those 9 goals is a lack of impact in midfield, which I believe affects our team’s overall 90-minute performance more than the 9 goals per season gain us…