Tomáš Souček says Graham Potter’s clear thinking is already starting to pay dividends on the pitch for West Ham United.
The Czech midfielder has captained Potter’s side in all four games since his appointment as Head Coach in the absence of injured regular skipper Jarrod Bowen, and has been proud of the injury-hit Hammers’ performances in those matches.
On Sunday, West Ham produced their best performance yet under Potter at Aston Villa, where they were arguably unfortunate to only come away with a 1-1 Premier League draw.
Souček was proud of the way the Irons played, as they out-passed Unai Emery’s side, regularly turned the ball over in the Villa half of the pitch by utilising a high press, and scored a superb goal from the unlikely source of an Emerson header from a pinpoint Edson Álvarez cross.
“This is the most important thing that I love, not to have two strikers who score 30 goals, but to be as one team who can defend and attack and score the goals, so this is what makes the team special, and I think we did it great,” the No28 told West Ham TV.
“I would say this is the best performance under the new [Head Coach]. We can see [what he wants to do] at the training ground as his message is very clear how he wants to keep the ball and press the opponent.
“It depends on the team we are playing against, but as players we know the approach and we practice at the training ground all the time and if I see this progress like I saw on Sunday I will be happy as we’ll keep improving.”
What was most impressive about West Ham’s display at Villa Park was the way they regrouped after a challenging start which saw them concede to Jacob Ramsey inside eight minutes and withstand high pressure from their hosts.
Indeed, by the time the full-time whistle was blown, it was Villa who were holding on for a point, and who were relieved when an offside flag was raised against Souček deep into added time after he had set up Lucas Paquetá to score what initially looked like a dramatic West Ham winner.
“If I put maybe the first 15 or 20 minutes out of the game, that would have been the perfect game for us because we were everywhere as a team, we fought for every ball and this is the West Ham we really need,” the stand-in captain continued. “We need this determination and especially in the last 20 or 30 minutes we deserved to be the winning team.
“It was great the way we responded because it’s always difficult when the team is losing. We came into the second half and we kept believing and creating chances and we even missed a few chances and had a disallowed goal, so I’m so proud of the team and how we managed the game.”
Next up for Souček and company is a trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea next Monday evening. While the Blues have been playing well themselves under former West Ham coach Enzo Maresca, the 29-year-old believes the Irons can return from across London with three points if they put Potter’s plans into action again.
“This is the Premier League so all the teams are top quality,” he concluded. “We played against Aston Villa [on Sunday] and next week we play against Chelsea, who I would say are a very similar team, so if we keep believing then we can get points there.”
