Tomáš Souček wants to return the love he has felt since joining West Ham United by leading the Hammers to Premier League safety.
The Czech Footballer of the Year has shown exactly why he was one of the most coveted box-to-box midfielders with a series of outstanding performances since arriving on loan from Slavia Prague in January.
With a groin injury and the COVID-19 lockdown now behind him, the 25-year-old has added a new dimension to David Moyes’ side, including physicality, athleticism, height and vital goals in the home win over Chelsea and away draw at Newcastle United.
Souček was in fine form again at Norwich City on Saturday, where he completed his third 90 minutes in the space of a week to help the Hammers to a vital 4-0 win.
I’m playing with guys that I’ve played with for four or five months so I’m really enjoying it well and, hopefully, we’ll be safe and I will be able to enjoy more years here
Tomáš Souček
“It was very important on Saturday because we had three games in seven days and it was very hard, so we prepared for the game by training very hard, so we are happy that we won and we won by scoring many goals,” he told the Evening Standard.
“I’m also very happy we kept a clean sheet.”
The No28 had experienced English football previously for both Slavia and Czech Republic, having faced Chelsea in last season’s UEFA Europa League quarter-finals and England in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifier at Wembley, and also featured six times in the UEFA Champions League group stage earlier this season.
But Souček said the speed of every Premier League game has still taken him by surprise: “I found out very quickly when I came here just how intense the Premier League is. I had played some games in Europe for Slavia Prague in the Champions League, but here it is like playing in the Premier League every three days!
“It’s great for me because I like games and now, when we play every three days, we don’t have many training sessions!”
Having made such a big impact in Claret and Blue, Souček is hoping to extend his stay in east London, and there is an option in place to make his loan move permanent this summer, but first West Ham need to complete the job of remaining in the Premier League.
“I am enjoying the Premier League because we play against big teams and I’m enjoying every day on the training ground,” he confirmed. “I’m playing with guys that I’ve played with for four or five months so I’m really enjoying it well and, hopefully, we’ll be safe and I will be able to enjoy more years here.
“For us, it was very pressured on Saturday because we should have beaten Burnley three days before, but we lost, and I think we were unlucky.
“On Saturday we won so we’re happy and now we have five days for recovery, which is many days for us, so I hope we will prepare for the next game and we will beat Watford.”
