Tomas Soucek has highlighted how much things have changed at West Ham United since he joined the club back in 2020.
The 27-year-old joined the Hammers initially on loan in January 2020, before making a permanent move to the Hammers five months later for around £19 million (WHUFC.com).
He was an instant hit with West Ham, scoring 10 Premier League goals during his first full season at the London Stadium.
The Czech Republic international’s form has fallen off the face of a cliff over the past year or so, however.
He is a complete shadow of his former self. In spite of that though, David Moyes continues to play him week in, week out, probably because of his aerial strength.
One thing that Soucek can never be criticised for is his commitment and desire. He gives his all every single time that he takes to the pitch, and it’s worth remembering just how much he transformed us as a team when he moved to the London Stadium in 2020.
Back then, David Moyes had just taken over for the second time, and the Hammers were in real relegation trouble. The mentality amongst the players certainly wasn’t what it should be. And Soucek has alluded to exactly that…
Tomas Soucek highlights big change at West Ham
The 27-year-old sat down for an exclusive interview with the club’s official website.
Soucek explained how there has been a real mentality shift at the club:
It has been a very quick change because, from what I saw in the past, this Club was happy when they finished 12th or tenth, and we are tenth now and we are not happy, we are disappointed. I remember once, just after I came, we lost away at Manchester City, 2-0, and everyone in the team was quite happy because we played quite well, but I was frustrated because we lost the game and this is the key point – now every game we lose or we draw, we are disappointed, and that’s great.
That really is a terrible attitude to have, and was probably the reason why we flirted with relegation that season.
The good news is that five of the players who started that night against Manchester City are no longer at the club.
David Moyes has brought numerous proven internationals to the London Stadium since that defeat to Man City in 2020. And we are completely different side now, when it comes to technical ability and winning mentality.
We made a poor start to this season but in fairness, we are currently sitting in 10th spot in the Premier League table. That in itself highlights how far we’ve come.
And Tomas Soucek has made it very clear just how poor the mentality was at West Ham a few years ago. How times have changed eh?
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