Why Tomáš Souček really is Marouane Fellaini 2.0
To say the 2020/21 Premier League campaign has been a strange one would be a bit of an understatement. We’re a third of the way through the season and the top four is made up of Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Leicester City and Southampton. Manchester City find themselves in ninth position while neighbours United are in eighth, though both teams do have a game in hand.
However, the biggest surprise might be the fact West Ham United are currently sitting in sixth spot, just five points off the top despite already having faced five of last season’s top six.
The Hammers even came back from 3-0 down to claim a draw against Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham side. David Moyes has his team playing with a clear identity and the system being utilised hides weaknesses within the squad. Declan Rice’s performances have earned rave reviews, Jarrod Bowen has really caught the eye and Vladimír Coufal has settled in well following his move. It’s Coufal’s compatriot who has been West Ham’s star performer this term, though.
Tomáš Souček’s arrival in January went under the radar. It had appeared as though Gedson Fernandes would be making a move to the London Stadium, only for the Benfica man to opt to join Spurs. West Ham reacted quickly and signed the Czech Republic international, initially on loan.
The 25-year-old had caught the eye for Slavia Prague in the first half of last season, netting 12 goals in just 26 appearances. He netted twice in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund and Internazionale. He was viewed as a goalscoring midfielder, but the 6ft 4ins behemoth had much more to his game. Souček was, and still is, a bit of a throwback. He’s a box-to-box midfielder capable of doing just about everything.
He impressed during his loan spell and the Hammers parted with £19million to make him a permanent fixture.
When in charge at Everton, Moyes relied heavily on Marouane Fellaini. The Belgian was often wrongly labelled as a target man, purely because of his height and physical approach. He chipped in with goals, but many of those arrived because of his intelligent off the ball movement. West Ham’s No.28 shares a number of playing traits, not just physical ones, with the former Manchester United midfielder.
He’s formed a formidable partnership with Rice in the heart of this new-look West Ham team. Souček covers a lot of ground, as shown in his Defensive Action Map. In the Premier League, many teams deploy a three-man midfield and have the numerical advantage, yet Moyes’ side rarely look overrun in the middle third. This is largely due to the positioning and the work rate of their midfield duo.
The former Slavia Prague man keeps play ticking over for the Hammers.
As evidenced in his pass map above, Souček very rarely plays passes into the box. He doesn’t create many chances and he’s registered just one assist since the move to England. However, that isn’t his game. He’s not there to be a creative menace, West Ham have a number of other players to do that.
The 25-year-old is in the team to play the passes to the creators, and he does that job well. There are negative connotations when a player is described as a crab, just moving the ball side to side, but these individuals are key to the way teams build their attacks. Souček might not set the tempo for Moyes’ side, but he certainly plays a part in sustaining it.
West Ham still look to make the most of his dominance in the air; he’s ranked seventh in the Premier League for aerial duels won since his arrival. However, Moyes isn’t just using him as a battering ram in the centre of the pitch. He’s still allowed to be a goal threat.
He’s scored in successive games and now has three for the campaign. Going off his shot map, Souček is destined to score more. The powerhouse midfielder is always getting into central areas in the penalty area and these chances tend to be of decent quality. Since the move to West Ham, he’s posted an expected goals (xG) total of 7.7. An xG per 90 average of 0.30 for a midfielder makes him one of the most dangerous in the Premier League.
Souček is Fellaini 2.0. Moyes will know how to get the very best out of him and that can only be a positive for the Hammers.
All the graphics and visualisations in this article use Wyscout data and were produced in the Twenty3 Toolbox.
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