West Ham United star Tomas Soucek has made an interesting admission in a recent interview, saying that he ‘didn’t feel right’ in the previous season.
The Hammers suffered last season, frequently flirting with the bottom three – moreover, Soucek himself had a relatively poor campaign by his standards, scoring just three goals and notching up a pair of assists.
The Czech international seems content to hold a modicum of the responsibility for last season – even if he was not the man to blame for most of it.
What did Tomas Soucek say regarding his performances last season?
In an interview with The Athletic, Soucek said: “I am happy that I got on the scoresheet again and if Alisson [the Liverpool goalkeeper] didn’t save my shot I could be on four goals. I feel very good.
“Maybe last season I didn’t feel right, didn’t feel that motivated, but this season I feel great. We have a very strong squad, we’re in four competitions and I just hope this season can be even better than last season.”
Do West Ham United have an issue with motivation?
Last season, saying that West Ham looked passive and uninterested would be somewhat churlish – but, likewise, it was not a point of view without merit.
For vast swathes of the 2022/23 season, the Hammers looked like relegation candidates – with many voices in the Irons’ fanbase calling for David Moyes’ sacking.
One European trophy and a strong start to the 2023/24 season later and all this bad will seems to have been forgotten – those baying for Moyes’ dismissal have now been quietened to nothing more than a whisper.
West Ham have looked stellar so far this campaign. No one on the pitch looks unmotivated – least of all Soucek, who already has three goals to his name so far (one in the Premier League, one in the Europa League and one in the League Cup).
To criticise Soucek for looking unmotivated would be simply inaccurate. He never fails to put in an admirable shift, heaving his massive frame around the pitch and putting his body on the line whenever the opportunity presents itself.