‘A bit ponderous’: Moyes gives honest verdict on West Ham player who will probably start tonight

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West Ham United boss David Moyes has admitted that Tomas Soucek has been ‘ponderous’ on the ball – but backed him for goals this season.

It’s not long ago that Soucek was seen as one of the biggest midfield goal threats in the Premier League.

With 10 goals from midfield last season, Soucek thrived at breaking into the box for West Ham.

That hasn’t really been the case this season. West Ham have only seen Soucek score once in 13 games this season.

It’s fair to say that Soucek has been playing a slightly different role this season.

Instead of breaking forward at will, Soucek is operating in a holding role alongside Declan Rice and behind three creative players.

Add in that Rice is adding more forward runs to his game and Soucek is often having to stay back a little more than he would like.

Ahead of tonight’s game against Brighton and Hove Albion, Moyes has told the London Evening Standard that he still thinks Soucek will find the net regularly.

However, Moyes was very honest about Soucek, suggesting that he has been ‘a bit ponderous’ in midfield and may be a little tired after Euro 2020.

Soucek is still likely to start for West Ham against Brighton tonight, with Moyes keen to play the Czech star into form.

“I think Tom, I believe by the end of the season will still have got to his target, we’ll still have got goals from Tom come the end of the season and I think it will settle down a little bit more,” said Moyes. “We’ve been a little bit more hard passing and build up and Tom has been involved in that rather than just sort of making the box at times and getting on the end of things. So we’ve got to try and benefit from both. We’ve got to try and get him involved in the build up but also got to try and get him on the end of crosses which is not always the case.”

“I don’t disagree. He may just may just be down a little bit, a notch, but this is a boy who’s played in the Euros or plays every game for the Czech Republic. He plays every game for us, we rest him when we can and he’s a boy who I’ve told you, they have come in, the two Czech boys have come in with unbelievable appetite and energy and excitement. I’ve seen bits of Tom where he’s just been a bit ponderous in bits of his play. But overall he’s such an asset to us,” he added.