Tomas Soucek must be incredibly concerned by the superb form of his West Ham United teammate Flynn Downes.
Downes started for the Hammers last night against Anderlecht, just like he did the week before out in Belgian.
And the 23-year-old put in a truly top-class central midfield performance.
What a player he is. It seems like West Ham have got a real gem for £12 million. And Downes’ fine recent form has started to ramp up the pressure on Soucek.
The 27-year-old has been in really poor form for the Hammers over the past year or so.
His aerial ability and stamina seem to be the only things that are keeping him in David Moyes’s starting XI at the moment.
And the 54-capped Czech Republic international must be really concerned about Downes’ recent performances…
Tomas Soucek must be worried by Flynn Downes
The two West Ham players are currently battling it out for the central midfield position alongside Declan Rice.
Tomas Soucek is getting the nod every week in the Premier League whilst Flynn Downes is playing in Europe.
I strongly believe that the 23-year-old should be starting regularly now in the league though. Moyes must be thinking about doing it, and Soucek must be aware of it as well.
Despite a couple of fairly decent performances in his last two outings, the Czech midfielder has been really poor this season.
It could actually be argued that he has been a real liability.
Downes is on an entirely different level to Soucek, when it comes to technical ability on the ball.
The way that the ex-Swansea ace takes the ball on the back foot and opens up his body provides so much more fluidly to our play through the middle of the park.
He also enables West Ham to move the ball quicker in transition than when Soucek is playing.
The former Slavia Prague man must be starting to seriously worry about his place in David Moyes’s starting XI.
Soucek is out of contract in the summer of 2024, with West Ham holding the option to extend that deal by another 12 months.
The 27-year-old must start improving on a consistent basis, if he is to earn a new deal at the London Stadium though.
One thing’s for sure, Flynn Downes is pushing Tomas Soucek all the way for his starting spot in the Premier League at the moment.
Hopefully that will be the kick up the backside that Tomas needs. Either way, he’ll undoubtedly be feeling the pressure.
ead also:
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