Tomáš Souček is hoping he can make one more happy memory at Goodison Park as he and his West Ham United teammates finalise their preparations for their last-ever trip to Everton’s current home.
The 30-year-old was on target in last season’s dramatic 3-1 win on Merseyside, slamming home a fine effort in second-half injury time to put the Hammers in front, after Kurt Zouma had cancelled out Beto’s opener and before Edson Álvarez put gloss on the scoreline right at the death.
Little under a year into his West Ham career, and on his first of four visits to Goodison, Souček struck the only goal of a 1-0 win on New Year’s Day 2021, before delivering his famous line about potato salad in his post-match interview.
Now, ahead of Everton’s scheduled summer move to the new Bramley-Moore Dock complex, our No28 is seeking another goal and three-point haul against the Blues, that would mark a welcome return to winning ways after Monday’s defeat to Newcastle United.
“I’ll always look back fondly at games against Everton, because I probably scored my best ever Premier League goal there, last season,” Souček said.
“There was a lot of emotion in that moment. I took my shirt off for the first time in my career, and it was amazing celebrating the goal that helped us get a really good win with all the supporters.
“I also scored on my first ever visit to Goodison Park, on the day everyone remembers me talking about potato salad! I have a lot of good memories there, and I just hope I can have one more good memory in our last game there on Saturday.
“It’s a really good stadium, with a good atmosphere, and it’s the kind of place I like to play because you can tell there’s a lot of history. So, I hope we can make our last trip a good one.”
Saturday’s clash will provide Souček with the chance to reunite with former Irons boss David Moyes, who has inspired Everton to an eight-game unbeaten run since taking charge of the club for a second time in January.
Souček signed for West Ham during Moyes’ tenure in charge in east London, and having played for the Scotsman for four-and-half years, and won the UEFA Europa Conference League under his tutelage, he hasn’t been surprised by his recent success.
He continued: “We had a lot of good times working together, so I have a great connection with him and I’m really happy that things are going well for him at Everton. Obviously though, I hope they lose on Saturday!
“We know it won’t be easy, but it’s up to us to bounce back after Monday and get points from the game. We’ve only conceded one goal in the last three games, which is good, and now we all want to make sure we sign off for the international break with a win.”
The Newcastle disappointment last time out spelled the end of West Ham’s encouraging two-game winning run, following victories over Arsenal and Leicester City, and after notching his sixth goal of the season in the late-February clash against the Foxes, Souček is eager to add to his tally.
He is currently four behind his Premier League best of ten goals in a season, set in 2020/21, and the Czech Republic international is confident that there is still plenty of time for him to top that total with ten games left.
“Before the season started, my target was nine goals, so one every four games or so,” Souček added. “I’ve got six at the moment, so that is still my aim.
“Ten is the most I’ve scored in a Premier League season, so of course if I was able to match or better that, that would be brilliant.”
