WHZ Stats: Have teams figured out how to deal with Soucek’s aerial might?
Tomas Soucek is the unlikely leading goalscorer at West Ham this season with the Czech midfielder earning himself a big reputation for his ability to score at set-pieces.
In his 28 Premier League appearances, the 26-year-old has scored eight times but none have come in his last six outings and we’re starting to feel as though opposition teams have figured out how to deal with the former Slavia Prague ace.
According to stats by Wyscout, Soucek has won the most aerial duels in the Premier League this season [296] and only four players in Europe’s top-five leagues have won more.
Only two players have scored more goals from corners in the Premier League than Soucek this term [3] while he ranks joint-10th for headed goals with two.
Soucek’s aerial prowess was not really talked about at the start of the season but as the campaign has progressed, have other teams figured out how to deal with the Czech Republic international?
In his last six Premier League matches, Soucek hasn’t had a single shot on target. His xG this season is 0.27 per 90 minutes, but since scoring in the 3-1 win at Aston Villa, Soucek’s xG has gone above his average just once when he registered 0.53 in the 0-0 with Fulham.
As you can see from the image below, a wide free-kick is being hit into the box which leads to an attempt at goal from Soucek.
He’s being closely marked by Fulham’s Joachim Andersen, which suggests that when tightly marked by a big defender, Soucek finds it tougher to get a solid attempt at goal.
By the time Soucek wins the header, he’s crowded out by Andersen, one of his team-mates and another Fulham defender. It seems that increased pressure on Soucek reduces his chances of scoring drastically.
Below is an image of a chance Soucek had from open play against Leeds when he found himself rampaging into the box with acres of space ahead of him.
However, Leeds left-back Stuart Dallas and midfielder Mateusz Klich managed to get themselves up in the air with Soucek, who won the header but completely failed in directing it goalwards.
It seems that when he has to jump up with more than one other player, he struggles to get any direction on his headers.
Soucek isn’t winning fewer balls in the air but the quality of his chances at goal are getting worse and we don’t think he’s suddenly become a worse player.
It’s very likely that other teams have started to figure out how to contain the Czech midfielder’s ability to score when the ball is up in the air.
But that can play into West Ham’s hands if they’re clever. Michail Antonio has two goals in the last six games where Soucek has blanked, Craig Dawson has a goal too.
It seems that the more players used to mark Soucek opens up opportunities for other team-mates who are good in the air.
Let’s see how Arsenal choose to cope with him this weekend.
In other West Ham news, here are three things to look out for when the Gunners visit the London Stadium on Sunday.