Tomas Soucek is a Premier League record holder at West Ham United these days.
Opening the scoring during February’s 1-1 draw with Manchester United at the London Stadium, Soucek overtook ex-Liverpool playmaker Patrick Berger as the most prolific Czech footballer in the competition’s history.
A closer look at the stats, meanwhile, show that West Ham United’s long-serving midfield colossus is not only defying Father Time, he is actually scoring goals at a rate similar to his early days in claret and blue.
What does Tomas Soucek have to do to become a true West Ham LEGEND? 🐐
Or is he a Hammers icon already?
Tomas Soucek is hitting the net every 355 minutes in the Premier League in 2025/26; the most recent coming against Liverpool last weekend.
After a brief goalscoring lull in the middle of his Hammers career, the former Slavia Prague captain is statistically just as effective now as he was all those years ago during David Moyes’ first spell at the helm.
One in the eye for his doubters, then. And yes Graham Potter, that includes you.
Tomas Soucek is just as effective as ever at West Ham United
Soucek scored nine Premier League goals last season, at a personal best rate of one every 285 minutes.
His current record of a goal every 355 minutes is not quite as fearsome, OK, but it makes this statistically his third-best campaign in front of goal. Only narrowly behind 2020/21, when Soucek followed up that £19 million permanent transfer with a career-high ten league strikes.
To think, Graham Potter seriously considered selling Soucek last summer, despite him finishing the 2024/25 on the verge of breaking into double figures. Fortunately, Nuno appreciates Soucek a lot more than his predecessor seemed to.
“Look, I’ve played against Tomas many times,” the former Wolves, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham boss said after Soucek secured successive wins over Burnley and Newcastle in November.
“And every time I’m analysing it, it was a nightmare stopping Tomas from getting into the box.
“He recognises space, he has the belief that not many players have.”
Nuno Espirito Santo is getting the most out of Soucek
Optimist or Realist? Share your number and defend it in the comments
When you consider that Soucek’s average dipped to one every 1,407 minutes in 2022/23 – he scored only twice that season and was often fielded deeper to accommodate Lucas Paqueta – his return to that early peak proves that he never lost the knack of popping up in the right place at the right time.
It’s just that a footballer of his unique but somewhat restrictive skillset must be platformed correctly in order to really justify his spot.
Nuno, giving Soucek the freedom to bomb on from deep, is determined to do just that.
“[Nuno] wants me to be a leader in the middle of the pitch,” Soucek told the West Ham website a month ago.
“He wants me to be the connection with the players. I’m just in the middle of all the parts, and I just want to be compact, be together and be prepared for an offensive or defensive style of play.”
He might not be a guaranteed fixture on the team sheet these days – only 15 starts from a potential 29 this term – but there is a reason all managers tend to come back to Soucek.
What he lacks in terms of finesse and top-drawer technique, he very frequently makes up for where it matters the most.
Reliable goalscoring midfielders do not come around too often.
And as Vladimir Coufal pointed out when some with short memories started to turn on his close friend in the autumn – Coufal hit back at Soucek’s critics on social media – underestimate a record-breaking midfield giant at your peril.
There’s certainly no chance of Nuno doing that.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
