West Ham United have shown admirable bouncebackability throughout the 2023/24 season – but that is one trait Tomáš Souček does not want to call upon when his side travel to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur – which saw Kurt Zouma’s header cancel out Brennan Johnson’s early opener – took the Irons’ tally of points from losing positions this term to 16, a total only bettered by Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City.
For Souček that particular statistic points to the spirit that flows through the Hammers’ camp, yet it also alludes to a fault that needs to be addressed.
Johnson’s close range finish had Spurs in front with just five minutes on the clock at London Stadium and made it three Premier League games out of the last four that West Ham had conceded the first goal.
Now, with a trip to Molineux on this weekend’s agenda – and a potentially vital 90 minutes in the race for European qualification ahead – the Czech Republic midfielder knows how important it is that the visitors strike first.
“The group has good spirit and we have to [keep that going] on Saturday,” he explained.
“It’s a good aspect [recovering points from losing positions], but on the other hand it’s bad that we are conceding quite a lot. Even against Newcastle we conceded the first goal and we conceded in the first five minutes again on Tuesday.
“That’s not good, but it’s always great when you can get back in the game. We have to make sure that we start scoring first from the next game.”
Souček was part of a midfield three alongside James Ward-Prowse and Lucas Paquetá that helped to minimise Spurs’ threat on Tuesday, and he was pleased to end the campaign undefeated against our north London rivals.
With seven games remaining in the Premier League – and a UEFA Europa League quarter-final against Bayer Leverkusen to come too – Souček is determined to use the point gained as a positive springboard.
“It’s a good response to Saturday,” he added. “We couldn’t lose it like we lost to Newcastle and we showed a good spirit, a good mentality, especially when we were losing again in the first five minutes.
“We’ve taken four points from Tottenham this season and we can be happy with that but there are still many games to go and especially on Saturday we need big support because it’s a big three points [available] for our European chances.”
