Czech newspapers blast ‘useless’ Tomas Soucek after West Ham United man struggles in defeat v Portugal
Tomas Soucek’s miserable start to the season continued away from West Ham when the Czech Republic lost 4-0 at home against Portugal on Saturday night.
Diogo Dalot’s brace and goals by Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota consigned the Czech’s to a heavy defeat in front of their own fans in Prague, leaving them on the verge of relegation from League A in the UEFA Nations League.
Soucek, 27, has been widely criticised for West Ham fans this year with his performances declining rapidly.
And it seems that form has spread into international football too with Czech newspapers slamming the ex-Slavia Prague man’s performance against Portugal.
Blesk ripped into Soucek and some of the Czech national team’s star players, saying: “Although coach Jaroslav Šilhavy’s men kept a close eye on the star Cristiano Ronaldo, they were still far behind their opponent. Traditional mainstays Tomáš Souček, Patrik Schick and Tomáš Vaclík did not stand out either.”
Blesk also rated the players out of 10. Vladimir Coufal managed to get a 4/10, which wasn’t bad compared to other players in the side.
However, Soucek was torn to shreds with a 2/10 rating with Blesk writing: “Unfortunately, it has become clear that he is not well at West Ham. He didn’t seal the middle of the field, he lacked energy, he completely lost his shine.”
Seznam Zpravy didn’t hold back either with journalist Ludek Madl saying: “Captain Tomáš Souček, who sometimes shines on the pitch like a beacon around which everything revolves, was completely useless on the pitch this time.”
What to do with Soucek?
Wow. That’s brutal.
Although the best nations in the world could crumble against this very strong Portugal side, losing 4-0 in front of your own fans is always tough to take.
Soucek has probably found himself in the worst form of his career.
He couldn’t do much wrong in his time at Slavia Prague while the first couple of seasons he had at the London Stadum were superb.
However, last season saw some red flags raised over the Czech midifelder.
And since the start of this season, he’s easily become one of the most frustrating players to watch in claret and blue in almost every single game.
With him now struggling for the Czech Republic, it’s time for David Moyes to show some concern about the midfield mainstay’s performances.
Declan Rice has struggled alongside him so the Scot should really consider a change in the middle of the park, possibly with Flynn Downes coming in.
We signed a lot of players in the summer transfer window and spent a lot of money. But not enough was done to invest in the central midfield area after losing Mark Noble and Alex Kral at the end of last season.
Soucek’s not been good enough, Rice’s form has dipped and Moyes doesn’t seem to trust Downes yet.