West Ham United boss David Moyes admits the club are ‘really keen’ for Tomas Soucek to rediscover his top form. He also needs the Irons’ midfielders to score more goals in games.
Soucek made an instant impact at the London Stadium with his goals after arriving on loan from Slavia Prague in January 2020. He also then took his threat in the final third up a level after securing a £19m permanent transfer. But the 27-year-old lost his impact last season.
Moyes only saw Soucek score five goals over 35 of West Ham’s Premier League games last term. And worse, the Czech Republic international has only netted once in 18 appearances so far this season. He hit 10 in 38 outings during 2020/21 after signing a four-year contract.
Soucek scored his only goal of the top-flight term thus far to hold Tottenham Hotspur to a 1-1 draw on August 31. Thilo Kehrer had given Spurs the lead 11 minutes before the break with an own goal. But Soucek responded in the 55th minute from Michail Antonio’s assist.
Yet despite starting 12 of their next 13 league games and playing the full 90 in nine, Soucek has not added to his tally. The 56-cap Czech skipper also penned his only assist of the term so far in their 2-0 win over AFC Bournemouth. Kurt Zouma glanced Soucek’s header home.
Moyes admits West Ham are ‘really keen’ for Soucek to find his goal form again
Moyes is desperate for Soucek to now get back amongst the goals on a regular basis in his bid to guide West Ham clear of the relegation zone. They rank outside of the bottom three to Everton only on goal difference at minus-nine to the Toffees’ minus-10 after 18 fixtures.
The Scot also hopes to see his other midfielders get on the scoresheet in the Irons’ next set of games. Declan Rice and the Hammers’ £51m summer arrival Lucas Paqueta have also hit just one Premier League goal this season. But Moyes still backs Soucek as their best threat.
“I think we do need Tomas more in some games than others,” Moyes admitted, via quotes by football.london. “But I still fancy [Soucek] out of the three of them. If you asked who is more likely to get more goals, I still fancy Soucek.
“At the moment, he is not doing quite [that] just now. But the other night he looked closer to it. He played a bit higher up the pitch [at Leeds], so we are really keen to get him back in goalscoring form. Goals have been a big issue for us… We need some goals from midfield.”
West Ham drew 2-2 at Leeds in their last Premier League match on January 4. Paqueta got on the scoresheet for the first time in the English top-flight with his penalty at Elland Road. Soucek also put the ball in the net on his return to the line-up but from an offside position.
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