West Ham desperately need Tomas Soucek back in form amid worrying Lucas Paqueta injury update
West Ham boss David Moyes will desperately need struggling midfield ace Tomas Soucek back in form in the coming weeks, following Lucas Paqueta’s worrying injury update.
Hammers’ key pair Nayef Aguerd and Lucas Paqueta are set to be ruled out for weeks after picking up injuries in the draw against Chelsea, according to Claret & Hugh [14 February].
Both players were withdrawn from the match at the London Stadium, with Paqueta going off after five minutes with a shoulder injury and Aguerd substituted late on with a groin issue.
C&H journalist Hughie Southon revealed on Tuesday (14 February) that a contact had told him: “They are both likely to be out for weeks rather than months.”
Both updates come as a crushing blow to both Moyes and the Hammers faithful considering the tremendous form of both players in the past few weeks, and the former Everton boss will now be short on options in the coming games, especially in defence.
But one man, who is sure to come back into the team following Paqueta’s injury is the out-of-form Czech Republic ace Soucek has undergone a difficult campaign in Hammers colours this season.
The midfielder’s form has dramatically declined over the past 18 months after a superb start to life at the London Stadium upon his move £19m from Slavia Prague in 2020.
After hitting 10 goals in 38 outings during the 2020/21 campaign, he’s only scored once in 22 league games this season highlighting a dramatic drop in performance levels and influence, seeing him lose his place to Paqueta who has been asked to fill deep-lying duties alongside Declan Rice in the Hammers midfield.
The 27-year-old has also been making the headlines for all of the wrong reasons over the last few days as he was perhaps lucky to not give a penalty away in the final moments of the game against Chelsea on Saturday, after trying to make a block with which the ball clearly struck his hand on his way down.
Moyes recently made an admission, stating that he is desperate for the Czech star to return to form that made him one of the club’s most impressive signings over the past decade.
“I think we do need Tomas more in some games than others,” Moyes admitted, via quotes by football.london [9 January]. “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.”
If Soucek is going to be replacing Paqueta while he is out injured in the coming weeks, then the early signs were not promising in his performance against Chelsea after coming on before half-time. The 27-year-old egistered a 52.2% passing accuracy during his 75 minutes on the pitch, misplacing half of the passes he attempted.
With the club facing some crucial tests in the coming weeks, as they aim to steer clear of the relegation places, they will desperately need Soucek to some how return to his best form alongside Rice if they are to reach the standards the they’ve impressively set throughout the last two campaigns.
The Czech Republic man is certainly playing for his Hammers future, with his immediate future at the London Stadium up in the air.