Since joining West Ham United in January 2020, Tomáš Souček has been available for all but six of the 176 Premier League matches the Hammers have contested.
The giant Czech has started 156, appeared as a substitute in 12 and been left on the bench for two. With 29 goals, seven assists, hundreds of aerial and ground challenges won and clearances and interceptions made, and thousands of passes completed, Souček has been an integral figure in West Ham’s success in his near-five years at the Club.
Souček leads by example, with his near-perfect fitness record, no-days-off attitude and positive character, winning mentality all contributing greatly to the Irons’ strong Premier League campaigns and deep runs in European competition, climaxing with the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final win in Prague, the capital of his home country of Czechia.
A hard-working, honest player and personality, the 29-year-old has been hurt by West Ham’s slow start to the new season, and was hugely disappointed when illness ruled him out of last weekend’s 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest.
Souček is back in training now, though, feeling much better and ready to take his frustration out on a familiar opponent in Everton, who visit London Stadium this Saturday afternoon.
The No28 has stuck it to the Toffees before, too, having scored a New Year’s Day winner at Goodison Park in 2021 – the day he revealed his love for Czech potato salad at Christmas – and netted a fantastic outside-of-the-foot finish at the same stadium to secure victory in March this year.
Speaking to whufc.com, Souček is determined to play his part in defeating Everton again, and to help inspire his teammates to put together a consistent run of positive performances and results…
Tomáš, you’re back in training, which is good news?
“Yes, it’s good news. I didn’t want to miss the Forest game, obviously, but it was necessary as I nearly couldn't breathe during the sessions in the week so I missed the game, but I have done the maximum to get ready for my return.”
We saw your social media post supporting the team and, given how few games you have missed in your career, it must have been difficult to stay at home?
“That's true. I'm quite lucky that I don't have that many injuries, and this is the only time when I couldn't play or be available for the team. So, for me, it was really tough to watch the lads from the sofa at home and the feeling I couldn't help them was tough. And because I wasn't available, I want to put in maximum hard work this week to get ready for this Saturday, because it's very important game for us.”
The last time you came on, at half-time against Manchester United, you put in a really good performance, so you must be keen to get on the pitch again and show the same form?
“Yes. I was so happy for the United game when I came on. I think all three of us who came on made good impact on the performance and we won the game. I wanted to carry on, but a virus stopped me, so now I want to carry on from that performance. We all know that we want to be higher on the table, and this is a good opportunity, especially before the international break, to have a better feeling.”
We know how much this Club means to you, so is how things are going at the moment hurting you a bit?
“Yes, for sure. This Club has become like my home Club. I was with Slavia Prague for 15 years and now I have been here for nearly five, so I have two home clubs. For that reason, I want to do a good performance not just myself, but a good performance as a team as well. I want to be even like the leader, to lead the team to get better performances. This means a lot, so that's the reason why I try to fight on the pitch all the time.”
You are a leader, you are captain of your national team, so do you feel you are someone who can rally the dressing room and get everyone going?
“I feel it now, yes. When I came I was just one of the players, but at the time I wanted to lead. Now I have the feeling I've been here long enough, and the players know me and know how I want to lead in a positive way. I want to help everyone here to give their best performance to the team so we have one connection. Especially, obviously, Jarrod is captain, but I don't care who has the armband. I want to help him, to help others, to be heard on the pitch, on and off the pitch, and to make West Ham move forward.”
We have an opportunity to move forward against Everton on Saturday. It would be lovely for you to repeat those goals you scored against them before?
“I like to play against Everton. Everyone thinks about potato salad as that was the first time I mentioned that, after Everton away! I have a good connection with them, but all of this is past, and I have to go for another one again. So I will do the maximum to get something special. Obviously, if I don't score or if don’t get an assist, I want to be around the team to get a good performance and get three points.”
