West Ham sink even deeper. The disgraceful form of the team, which has made it to the European Cups twice in a row from the busy English Premier League, is stirring up passionate debates on the islands. Increasingly strong criticism is aimed at the head of Tomáš Souček. According to the media, one of the biggest supports of the past seasons is losing the performance necessary for the highest English competition.
Hammers manager David Moyes finds himself under enormous pressure, but despite now long-term criticism, he is betting on the Czech midfielder. In the last matches, the national team captain was pulled from a more defensive role towards the front, but Souček did not make an impact.
“Antonio and Soucek were the worst of a truly terrible team,” London’s Evening Standard headlined after another defeat.
He gave Cech a below-average grade of 4 out of 10. The club blog Claret and Hugh even reached for an assessment one level lower, and Součka wrote: “No influence on the game, no improvement, on the contrary.”
West Ham did not score again and narrowly fell in the rescue battle at Wolverhampton.
The twenty-seven-year-old Souček only played less than an hour of the game, and the media is increasingly noticing his weaknesses, especially those in combination.
“He recorded only eight accurate passes in the match. Only eight. As a man with the task of connecting the reserve with the attack, he does very little on the ball. And because of this, the team has immense problems with attacking quality,” analyzed Souček’s new role in Football.London magazine.
The “Fellaini” model does not work
Moyes apparently bet on the “Fellaini” model. The iconic Belgian midfielder, who was more of a defensive type of midfielder, once in Everton and then in Manchester United, placed him in an under-the-line position and celebrated success with an unexpected move.
Souček, who has a similar physical and shooting disposition, has now also moved up, with his career shooting record and physical prerequisites, this is a relatively logical step.
Vysoký Cech has the task of causing chaos in the opponent’s defense and pushing to the end, but so far not even the slightest effect has appeared.
“He had the only Fellaini-esque moment against Wolves to justify the move,” reported Football.London, mentioning Souchak’s work leading to compatriot Vladimír Coufalo’s chance, West Ham’s only first-half opportunity, which the full-back converted into his first English goal did not convert.
“Beyond this moment, Souček’s use as a number 10 raises more questions than answers,” the website added.
According to the author, Moyes’ choice is all the more surprising when he has the quality pressing Spaniard Pablo Fornals or the technical toy Manuel Lanzini from Argentina in his squad.
Another major battle is coming
In addition, Souček replaces Said Benrahma, an Algerian who has definitely been one of the best available to the Hammers in recent months.
“In the last two games, Benrahma replaced Soucek and West Ham immediately turned into a more dangerous team.”
In Football.London, they don’t understand why the most creative player of the team is on the bench and a Czech footballer is operating in a key creative position. They attribute it to the relationships in the cabin. After all, the fact that Moyes does not respect the Algerian player enough is regularly discussed in the corridors.
According to the newspaper, the conservative coach now has to make a change whether he wants to or not. West Ham face another crucial battle on Saturday against a significantly threatened team, Everton.
Both traditional clubs have just 15 points after 19 rounds, the same as last-place Southampton. However, the fast way up is open, the last seven teams in the Premier League currently fit within two points.
“We are concerned but not panicking. I hope that after what we have given the fans in recent years, we now deserve their support in difficult times,” Moyes appealed to angry Hammers supporters.
