Tomas Soucek has indicated that he plans to stay at the London Stadium and help West Ham United bounce back from their relegation out of the Premier League.
Sunday’s fateful afternoon not only saw the end of the Hammers’ 14-year spell in the top flight, it all-but sealed the fates of many in the playing and coaching staff.
Hammers News have already reported that Nuno Espirito Santo is almost certain to leave the London Stadium this summer. Substantial player sales will be required as well, meaning Mateus Fernandes, Crysencio Summerville, Konstantinos Mavropanos and co may be sacrificed in order to fill a financial black hole.
Where was that all season? 🤦♂️ Tell us how you feel about West Ham’s 3-0 win vs Leeds…
West Ham have been relegated despite the victory 😢
But if there was any player whose loyalty West Ham United could rely upon – albeit partly because offers from the likes of Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and PSG are unlikely to present themselves – it is Tomas Soucek.
Tomas Soucek could stay at West Ham United after relegation
Speaking via the club’s official YouTube channel following a 3-0 final day victory over Leeds rendered entirely moot by Tottenham’s narrow triumph over Everton, Soucek did not sound like a man making a beeline for the life rafts.
“The fans are unbelievable. I appreciate them all the time wherever I see them, and the fans are bigger than the club, bigger than the players, than everyone else,” said the long-serving midfielder. “Because of them we are where we are as Premier League players, and we were so happy for them.
“So, it’s not good enough that we go down. They don’t deserve it. So yeah, I have to thank them for everything and I am really sorry for the whole season.
“I just believe that they will stick with West Ham, they will support West Ham, and we will all together go back to the Premier League. That’s only what I hope for.
“That’s the only [thing] a big club can do, bounce back to the Premier League. And the fans are so important; thousands at the stadium but hundreds of thousands or millions around the world. I couldn’t believe how many fans it has, and that’s unbelievable.
“I just hope that they will stick with us and the best way is to fight straight back, because that’s only what this club and especially the fans deserve.”
Relegation confirmed – where do West Ham go from here?
Soucek endures the ‘saddest day of my career’
Captain Jarrod Bowen appeared to leave the door ajar to a season in the Championship during his own post-match autopsy of a miserable campaign. However, with interest from clubs capable of offering Champions League football, Bowen’s loyalty is likely to be tested much more than Soucek’s over the coming months.
A Conference League winner who recently made his 200th Premier League start for West Ham, an emotional Soucek describes the club’s first relegation since 2011 as the ‘saddest day of my football career’.
“Obviously this is a very sad day. Probably the saddest day of my football career and for this club, for the fans as well. It’s a very sad day because this club belongs to the Premier League, belongs very high in the table, and what’s happened has happened, so it’s very tough to take,” Soucek added as West Ham go down with a tally of 39 points; enough to secure survival in each of the last 14 campaigns.
“Obviously we did 39 points and it’s not enough in the Premier League to stay. We tried to save it by the end, but the mistake is through the whole year we didn’t do enough. There are plenty of results we could do better, plenty of performances. So, we can say as players, individuality, as characters, there are some issues.
“I just say that I’m very sorry to the fans, to the club, to the staff at the training ground and everywhere at the stadium. And I take big responsibility for the players because we are on the pitch and we should manage games much better. So I take big responsibility for this disaster.”
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