Thomas Soucek, the midfielder’s trajectory from Czech side Slavia Prague to the Premier League can be said to be a mystery since he was announced permanently in July 2020, despite being tagged as not ‘Good Enough’.
The diligent midfielder has proven to be the new Marouane Fellaini of the good old days at Everton. The Czech international is the main reason why the East London side is in a transformation that has taken them to a comfortable position in the league.
Surprisingly to see Soucek orchestrating play in West Ham’s midfield still looks bafflingly for a player who at the age of 19 was finding it pretty difficult to become a professional footballer because nobody believes in his talent.
Fast forward from six years to this moment, the Czech international has turned himself into a diamond in the faces of the Hammers fans, working seamlessly alongside Declan Rice with varieties of input from him to the team in terms of attacking presence, defensive solidity, and scary aggression against top oppositions.
Soucek Sudden Rise
Soucek wasn’t a household until he was signed by the Hammers, having said that let’s take a look on how the journey started as he becomes Moyes’s new Fallaini.
Soucek started his formative years with Slavia Prague’s youth team as a 10-year-old boy. As a young boy seeking to hone his football skill, he went for trials at two second-tier clubs Frydek Mistek and Vlasim, both clubs didn’t sign him because he wasn’t good enough.
For every rejection at a junction, there is always an acceptance at the other end. Jindrich Trpisovsky Viktoria Zizkov’s manager saw Soucek played, but wasn’t convinced of his ability to become a player that could prove useful for him.
However, he was persuaded to take him on loan without costing the club a dime and he went on to work hard after all with 14 appearances.
After a torrid time with Zizkov, Soucek returned to Slavia Prague in the summer of 2015, with the belief that he’s going back to his parent club to continue his career.
Unexpectedly for him, Slavia Praque was in huge mess, financially handicaped to sign good players, having finished 11th in the previous season which made them decided to bring all young players loaned out back to the club.
That risky but wise decision proved to be a good decision that rescued the future of Slavia Prague, a club without financial capability to sign players and that also helped the growth of Soucek as a young player.
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At the beginning of the Czech league, Slavia coach tried in throwing the youngster in the forefront of a somewhat difficult match against Czech giant Viktoria Plzen, even without trusting his ability.
Soucek defies the odd by disappointing the skepticism of Uhrin, as he went on to score and played impressively well for Slavia Prague.
Thereafter improving really quickly and taking responsibility when least expected plus scoring a hat trick against Banik Ostrava that caught people’s attention to how swift he’s has grown as a midfielder.
In 2015, Slavia Prague entered into a new face with the new takeover of the club from a Chinese Energy Company (CEFC), that catapulted the Czech side into the zenith of Czech football after the sacking of Urhin.
The new development at the club saw lots of good players moved to the club, which cumulated in Soucek been sent on another loan to Slovan Liberec.
Soucek returned to his parent club months later along with his former manager Jindrich Trpisovsky at Viktoria Zizkov, but then as Liberec manager having been employed by Slavia to help in countering the dominance of Sparta Prague and Plzen.
In Trpisovsky’s first season with the “Red and Whites’, theynfinished second behind Plzen with Soucek as one of the significant players with 13 goals to his name in 34 games.
Slavia Prague’s impressive performances in the league got them pitted against the finest side in Europe in the Champions League, where they revealed to the world what they’re capable of doing on the big stage in the UEFA competitions.
Those who have been following the development of Soucek right from when he was seen as not good enough, were all astonished by how swift he has grown as a player.
Trpisovsky’s likeness for Soucek grows beyond what he could imagine himself and sees him as an exceptional player that would fit perfectly into any elite club in Europe.
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When the Hammers came calling for his services, he tried to convinced the board not to sell him cheaply. In the end West Ham coughed out enough to what made him the most expensive player in the Czech league.
In Soucek’s first year at West Ham, he hit the ground running to became the first Czech player to reached that height with 10 goals in 33 appearances, as other Czech greats needed more games to achieve that.
Without mincing word, he has also continued from where he stopped last season to continue his impressive form under Moyes’s tutelage with eight goals in total this season.
Since he moved to England, the one-time player who was seen as not good enough has so far proved himself to be a versatile player, diligent in his duties, providing covering defensively for his team, and a player who is fully ready for the rigor of European football and the media eagle eyes.
Would Soucek go on to achieve success with the Hammers, just like some of his idols Yaya Toure and Cesc Fabregas did with their respective clubs? Only time would tell for the man whose journey from Slavia Prague to stardom looks quite surprising and some sort of a mystery.
