Tomas Soucek is not the most obvious Graham Potter -midfielder. Hogging at 6ft 4ins, a physical presence more than a technical, he does not embodiment the pass-and-move philosophy that the head coach of West Ham has become known for.
Try to tell the captain of the Czech Republic. Or his manager. Although the results in 12 months are under the third head coach of the hammers, the 30-year-old was not far from his effective best.
Soucek closed a memorable week with the opening goal in the first victory of the Hammers in Nine at Man Utd on Sunday. It did not quite match the welcome of his third child, Daniel, four days earlier in the world. Not only because of the current perilous situation of United, but because Soucek is already approaching the best scores season of his career.
Five goals since Potter's arrival has taken him to nine for the season; Another one in the Super Sunday Showdown with Nottm Forest would be the same as to go to his best Premier League return in a single campaign.
The passing songs from Soucek will never surpass the charts, but his versatility and industry is more synonymous with the relatively new boss approach.
In his five years in the London Stadium, the 30-year-old was used as a no. 6 enforcement rider, a box-to-box no. 8 and as a no. 10 Batting RAM, his physicality and late runs in opposition areas a consistent threat-as Old Trafford saw last weekend.
The most important change under the liquid style of Potter is getting used to playing all three roles in one game. And he enjoys it.
“He wants to use me in many positions, and I like that,” says Soucek Sky Sports of the Rush Green Training Base of the Hammers. “I want to be flexible, I can play deep and I can play higher, that is my style – what I like about football and being a midfielder is when they can rotate all over the field.
“The manager also likes it, and I hope we can find the balance together. We just have to be successful now.
“You can go for the ball like a no. 6, then end up like a no. 8 and end up as a no. 10 everything in a game. The other midfielders can all rotate around it, and if you can find that balance, I think it is the hardest thing for the opponent to go with you.
“We need more of this, so I hope we have a great momentum the last two games and we can show what we can do in those competitions.”
The victory in Old Trafford ended this season a depressing well -known series of poor form. The natural farewell to the roads with David Moyes heralded a new dawn, but the hammers could still end directly above the relegation zone without supporting that victory in their last two games.
Potter will probably be offered more time than Julen Lopetegui, which lasted only 22 races in the hot chair to implement his style, given the time it went in bed in Brighton, his last successful role.
There have been green shoots that are for Sunday's overdue victory, including a deserving draw with Tottenham in the previous game, but more generally, mental vulnerability has been as much worries as something tactical.
Only six points have been picked up by losing positions all season, and none of them victories – records that Duo Ipswich and Southampton are better banned. The hammers have started and have completed games poorly and have given 10 goals in the first 10 minutes of matches and 11 in the last.
“It is always difficult to find exactly what is wrong if you lose,” says Soucek. We all want to win, it is hard to realize and it was harder for us because we didn't win for a few games.
“Against Tottenham, the game for Man Utd, I saw the passion we had, that is what we missed because we as football players have a lot of individual quality, but I think we should have more character to show that we are all united and together.
“With that passion, it doesn't matter who loses the ball when we do it, but we go all the way again. That is what we have shown against Tottenham and Man Utd, and we have to put that into every game.
“The character, the passion of the team beats the individual quality and if we put together individual quality and mind, we can be a really good team.”
Soucek is now one of the most experienced hammers in the current team, with only Mikhail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell for him on the appearance, both of whom were already confirmed this summer with Cresswell to leave the club.
This also applies to Vladimir Coufal, with whom Soucek has beaten a mini Czech corner in East, after the couple both moved to the London Stadium within 10 months from Slavia Prague in 2020.
“I will ask him to tell me where he is going!” Soucek laughs. “It will be a big miss for me, and also the club. It will be difficult not to see him every day, but that is football.”
The couple can still mention a bit if they can beat NOTTM Forest and already related Ippswich in their last two games to guarantee that they are ready for Man Utd and Spurs, and possibly as high as 13th in the table.
Not only would it say a goodbye to some of the longest serving players of the club, where Lukasz Fabianski would also leave this summer, but would lift the mood around the first full season of Potter.
“It would make a big difference,” says Soucek. “We want to be higher in the table, but we still have a few games, so that we can end up for Man Utd and Tottenham.
“That is a big goal for us, but we also want to finish the season in the best possible way after winning at Old Trafford. If we can get good results, we will all remember that we can get as strong in the summer when we are done.
“It is so important to end strong.”
Discover whether West Ham can inspire that strong finish versus Nottm Forest, live on Super Sunday from 1 pm on Sunday, kick -off 2.15 pm.
Sky Sports to show 215 Live PL games next season
From next season, the Premier League coverage of Sky Sports will increase from 128 games to at least 215 games that are exclusively live.
And 80 percent of all Premier League matches broadcast on television will be on Sky Sports next season.