West Ham star Tomas Soucek has blamed gruelling David Moyes sessions for the Rangers defeat but says it will pay off when it counts.
Moyes was visibly agitated after West Ham’s 3-1 defeat to Rangers at Ibrox in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday night.
It came after West Ham’s lethargic pre-season draw with Reading at the weekend, after which Moyes warned his players they simply must up their levels.
The Scot has cut a frustrated figure, which – given they are “only pre-season games” – suggests the manager has some very real concerns.
Pre-season is of course all about fitness. But if that’s the case then the performance against Rangers suggests the Hammers are miles off it just two weeks out from having to chase Man City’s all stars around the pitch for 90 minutes.
Moyes said as much himself after the game when assessing what he has seen from his West Ham side of late.
“I’m disappointed with a lot of elements of the game and things we done,” Moyes said on the club’s website.
“Not on tonight I didn’t (see the improvements I want to see in fitness), I felt they were sharper in their head… I didn’t see it as being a good team performance at all…
“We’re certainly needing to make a lot of changes and do something different that’s for sure.”
One rare bright spark for the Hammers against Rangers was Tomas Soucek.
There has been intense speculation over the Czech captain’s future after reports of a falling out with Moyes.
But Soucek, coming on as a second half sub in his natural box-to-box role, looked West Ham’s best player alongside Jarrod Bowen.
The big midfielder got a goal back and looked fit and fired up.
And West Ham star Soucek has blamed gruelling Moyes sessions for the Rangers defeat but says it will pay off when it counts.
“For sure we weren’t good enough tonight,” Soucek told whufc.com.
“We had a really hard session with the manager and our legs are still heavy and it was seen on the pitch for 90 minutes, so we need to get ready because the level needs to be up.
“But we still have more than two weeks and that’s good and another two friendly games and each one will be very important before the first game of the season.
“I’m happy to get a few minutes on the pitch because it’s very important in pre-season.
“I had only done running sessions at Rush Green and another few sessions with the team, but these minutes are very important for me and one goal I something extra for my confidence so that’s good in front of our fans.
“The result was disappointing but we need to be pushing in the pre-season to get ready for the season.”
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