West Ham 1-1 Chelsea

[Special Juan 27,104]

Kovacic is a fucking crock, played every game at the WC if memory serves me. Never seems to be fit anymore.

[MoroccanBlue 5,200]

Having all three of Kovacic, Kante, and Zakaria in a team is just a handicap. At the very least 2 will be injured at the same time. 

Massive midfield rebuild this summer. I'd get rid of all three personally. 

[Mário César 816]

im also feeling tired about kova 

always injured ffs 

[MoroccanBlue 5,200]

Give me Lavia, Kone, and Santos next season. 

[TheHulk 1,398]

 

[Mário César 816]

what about fofana? when is coming back?

[ZAPHOD2319 3,881]

41 minutes ago, Mário César said:

what about fofana? when is coming back?

This is as much info that is out there.

 

[ZAPHOD2319 3,881]

 

[kev61 10]

If RLC makes it on to the team sheet we need to seriously question our future.

He is a serial failure that has been given enough chances.

[Nero 1,794]

Sterling out again for the match 🤣

Terrible signing. Sell him

[Vegetable 790]

Yeah, let's get out there and do what we have to do:

Lose and say goodbye to GP.

[lucio 5,410]

1 hour ago, Nero said:

Sterling out again for the match 🤣

Terrible signing. Sell him

What a joke 

[lucio 5,410]

Why is west ham so terrible this year? Did they lose someone important? Because they were strong recently 

[xPetrCechx 13,548]

20 minutes ago, lucio said:

Why is west ham so terrible this year? Did they lose someone important? Because they were strong recently 

They are waiting to meet Chelsea.

[Fulham Broadway 16,411]

Things better change. Pikeys have won their last 3 against us there, and we have scored twice in six games.🤬

[Vesper 27,352]

54 minutes ago, lucio said:

Why is west ham so terrible this year? Did they lose someone important? Because they were strong recently 

one part of the puzzle (plus their wingers and CFs have been shit and they have had a tonne of injuries)

West Ham’s Tomas Soucek still aerially dominant but rest of his game has regressed

https://theathletic.com/4120652/2023/01/26/tomas-soucek-headers-west-ham/

There was a time when Tomas Soucek was so popular at West Ham he had to look for a new home to get away from all the fans turning up at his apartment hoping for a photo.

He was the man of the moment. The club’s player of the year. A 6ft 4in (192cm) goal threat from midfield earmarked as the Premier League’s new Marouane Fellaini. Manager David Moyes’ golden boy.

But Soucek, whose work ethic once endeared him to supporters, including doing 5km runs in his spare time and training at West Ham’s Rush Green complex even on his days off, is now at a crossroads in his career.

The Czech international, who turns 28 in February, has regressed over the past 12 months. His central midfield partnership with Declan Rice has suffered as a result and Soucek’s long-term future is uncertain.

Last January, West Ham opened talks with his representatives over a new four-year contract.

Soucek, whose current deal expires after next season, although there is an option to extend for a further year, was seen as a key player at that juncture but as his form tailed off, negotiations hit an impasse and today there isn’t an immediate rush to hold further discussions.

This season, he has scored twice and provided two assists in 26 appearances across all competitions. He’s been substituted in four of his last five Premier League starts — having played the full 90 in the first 13 — and began Saturday’s 2-0 win over Everton on the bench.

A look at the stats show how Soucek’s attacking threat has fallen this season.

His headed shots per 90 minutes figure (0.46) is the lowest it has been since joining the club from Slavia Prague in his homeland, initially on loan, during the winter window three years ago. His expected goals (0.15) and total shots (1.04) figures are also the worst of his West Ham career.

He has also struggled in possession.

Soucek has hit 153 passes which did not find their target — the most by any West Ham outfield player. Only Aaron Cresswell (62) has more failed passes in their own half than his 49, and he is second to goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski (104 to 145) for unsuccessful passes in opposition territory. Forgivable for a ‘keeper hitting it long, less so for a midfielder in the Premier League.

Throughout his three years with West Ham, Soucek’s strengths have been runs into the opposition penalty area and his aerial presence on attacking set pieces. In 2020-21, his first full Premier League season, he made 222 runs into the 18-yard box — the most by a central midfielder in the division.

That season, Soucek scored 10 goals while starting all 38 league games. Three of those were headers and he attempted 28 headed shots — the most he has managed in a season at West Ham. Soucek has only attempted eight headed shots this season, creating a per 90 rate of 0.46 which is the lowest of his time in east London.

His aerial dominance is still noticeable, however.

In Soucek’s first full campaign, he won the most aerial duels (234) by any outfield player in the league, the following season it fell to 134, the fifth highest. This season, so far, he’s won 50, which puts him sixth among Premier League outfield players.

 

 

The most pressing issue over Soucek’s form is his partnership with Rice.

The summer arrivals of Lucas Paqueta and Flynn Downes have given Moyes more options in midfield. And following the 1-0 loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford in October, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher was not particularly complimentary.

“I look at midfields and how that works now, I’m not convinced by Soucek and Rice as a partnership,” Carragher said. “Long-standing partnership, it has its positives, but in certain games you need creativity. Soucek offers you an aerial threat, and at set pieces he’s important.

“I look at Declan, he’s looking to pop a pass to someone, but it’s not Soucek’s game. (Pablo) Fornals, (Manuel) Lanzini, (Said) Benrahma can play there, (Flynn) Downes. It doesn’t feel like there’s any flow when there’s two players who are so similar in there.”

For context, Carragher once hailed Soucek as the league’s best box-to-box midfielder. But he no longer impacts games in the same fashion. Rice often sits deep, which gives his partner license to roam forward. But Moyes has experimented more with his midfield, favouring Brazil international Paqueta alongside Rice for the weekend win over fellow strugglers Everton as he reverted to a wing-back system, rather than his preferred 4-2-3-1.

Paqueta has mainly operated as a No 10, but plays a deeper role for Brazil. He could be an option given Soucek’s struggles, but Moyes offered insight at the start of this month as to why he has persisted with the Czech.

“I would like to find a good balance with getting all three of them (Rice, Soucek, Paqueta) in the team if we can,” Moyes said. “I think we do need Tomas more in some games than others. But I still fancy (Soucek) out of the three of them, if you asked who is more likely to get more goals.

“At the moment he is not doing quite (that) but the other night (against Leeds) he looked closer to it, he played a bit higher up the pitch so we are really keen to get him back in goalscoring form. Goals have been a big issue for us. We see him scoring more goals than Rice or even Paqueta. We need some goals from midfield.”

But Paqueta (21) and Rice (19) have both attempted more shots, excluding blocks, than Soucek (13) this season. Paqueta also ranks first among the trio with eight shots on target and appears the most likely to impact games in the final third.

A season-by-season comparison of Rice and Soucek’s per-90 stats shows a trend has developed.

In 2020-21, the duo were pretty evenly balanced for passes, successful passes and touches. But since the European Championships played that summer, Rice has become more of a box-to-box midfielder — perhaps to the detriment of Soucek.

“I think I’ve just gone off my own back and done it, really,” Rice told Sky Sports’ Saturday Social when asked about his new role. “I think I’ve always known I could do it, even from last season; probably in the Euros final I did it quite a lot and when you’re doing it during a game it feels good and it looks good.

“As the season started, I just thought, ‘You know what? I’ve got the ability, it’s just having the confidence to do it’. You know sometimes you can play within yourself or choose your moments. But, yeah, this year I’ve just thought, ‘Why am I going to stop it?’ I’ll do it every time I can, really.”

Soucek has regressed, while Rice continues to elevate his game.

Both may end up leaving West Ham this summer: Rice to a club who can offer him Champions League football, Soucek to get his career going again.

GO DEEPER

Ings facing spell on sidelines after injury on West Ham debut

[Pizy 17,860]

Fully prepared for this terrible WH side to play out of their skin now that Chelsea is here.

So hopefully our boys are up for this physically as well. 

[Thor 2,141]

Play DDF upfront and stick Zakaria in midfield if available.