Alan Smith and James Collins hail West Ham star Tomas Soucek
Sky Sports pundits Alan Smith and James Collins had some major words of praise for West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek during their clash with Brighton on Saturday night.
The Czech Republic international was brought in on an initial loan deal from Slavia Prague in January 2020 but made the move permanent in July.
Speaking on Sky Sports [15/05/21] during live coverage of the clash between West Ham and Brighton, Smith and ex-Irons favourite Collins lauded his contributions to David Moyes’ European-chasing side this season.
“For me he’s got to be up there with one of the signings of the season in the whole Premier League,” Collins said.
“I still speak to a lot of the West Ham lads and he’s good to have around the place with what he brings to the dressing room, the way he lifts the other lads.
“He’s got everything, he’s a goalscorer and he covers more ground than anyone in that West Ham team and is another one who is a massive miss if he’s not available.”
“Defensively he’s invaluable coming back for set plays, he’s a big lad and doesn’t mind getting his head on the ball and he’s been a huge signing for them.”
Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith was in the commentary box for the game and he also waxed lyrical about Soucek, calling him a “revelation”.
One of the Premier League’s best
Soucek is surely now bracketed alongside the Premier League’s elite-level central midfielders.
His penchant for making late runs into the penalty area is well known and a tally of nine league goals ranks him behind only Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City) and Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) for central midfielders this season, and he plays deeper than both.
That’s been more evident in recent weeks with Declan Rice and Mark Noble missing games through injury with the 26-year-old having to drop back to cover for the duo.
He was paired with the attacking talents of Manuel Lanzini in our 2-1 win over Burnley on May 3, having to do the bulk of the defensive work.
He may not win many 100 metre races, but he can pretty much do everything else as a Premier League footballer.
In other West Ham news, ‘I really like him’ – Moyes open to signing £66,000-a-wk ace who Noble admires.
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