It should not be underestimated what Tomáš Souček has achieved since joining West Ham United in January 2020.
The 30-year-old played a leading role in the Hammers’ surge into European football, inspiring his teammates with his relentless work-rate, positive attitude and willingness to take responsibility.
He started the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League triumph in Prague - the capital city of his home country of Czechia - and has continued to give his all every time he has stepped onto the pitch.
Last time out at Leeds United, Souček became just the ninth West Ham player and third Czech to reach 200 Premier League appearances.
The midfielder is rightly proud of his achievement, but typically puts helping his team improve their current position ahead of any individual accolades.
“Obviously, when I go back from the first day I came, it will be six years in January, so it’s a long time,” he recalled. “At the moment, I have in my mind so many games. It’s obviously been up and down, but so many games, and this is the Premier League and we had so many successes but also, even in this situation, we have some bad games, and not the easiest situation. But I really appreciate all the six years, all 200 Premier League games, because that’s what I have dreamed of, and now I’m a big part of West Ham history, so I’m just happy for it.
“I came to my old club [Slavia Prague] when I was ten and I left when I was 24, so it was like 14 years. So I feel there as a main home, but because of West Ham, it’s incredible, it’s like my second home, because everywhere I can go in the future, I know that West Ham is my main club in my career, and I’m just so happy what I did here. I believe that it’s not the last game, but I’m just so happy how these 200 games went.”
Souček arrived in east London as a relatively fresh faced 24-year-old, but his appearance has changed since then, having collected a number of scars from the hundreds of battles he has gone into, often head-first, over the past six years.
For him, putting his body on the line for the Claret and Blue cause is something that comes instinctively.
“This is from my childhood,” he confirmed. “I know West Ham is a very historic Club and they always have big warriors in the team, so I’m just happy that I could come to this Club, because this is where I belong, and that’s great for me, and the connection with me and the fans is great.
“I have so many scars since I came to West Ham, but this is just part of my football life. When there’s some danger, I’m not scared, and I go 100 per cent into it, and it’s just part of it.”
One word that sums up Souček is ‘leader’, and while he may not wear the armband for his Club, he does for his country, and he is determined to inspire his teammates as West Ham seek to turn performances and results around.
“I have always seen myself to be a leader, even if I am a captain or if not, so I don’t care much about the capacity, but the most important thing is how the team take you, what you can say, if you are a big person, if you are not scared to speak or to tell someone what they should do, and that’s my position for sure now,” he explained.
“We need obviously more leaders, because the football in this time is all about the leaders, and to put 100 per cent into your work. I feel a big responsibility for the Club and that even in this tough situation, I am the one who can really change it and help the team in this time.
“It’s really tough, it’s a really serious time for us, and we have to restart very quickly, because we don’t want to have a big gap between us and other teams, so it’s really tough to do some actions against it. We have spoken with the players in the changing room, and I think this is good that we can say everyone can say something, have different opinions and at the end we have to be one team, so that’s a good challenge, it’s what we have.”
Another strong voice is that of Head Coach Nuno Espírito Santo, and the No28 says the Portuguese has made it clear what he expects from his squad, and it is now up to the players to show exactly what they are made of in two important home Premier League matches against Newcastle United and Burnley.
Souček said: “We have now Nuno as a manager, he trusts us, he believes in us, and he wants to improve as well during the training sessions and during the games, so that’s great, but now it’s also up to the players to step up and make the performance, make the tackles, speak and be a leader for the team and win every set-piece, as every detail of this is so important and can make a big difference.
“Now is the time that we have to be there and make every tackle, every run, every pressing. We have to be all as a team.
“We have two good opportunities against Newcastle and Burnley, especially two good games at home, so I just believe that this is the perfect opportunity for us to show how much we care.”
And showing how much they care is the minimum Souček says the supporters should expect from their team.
“I’m really sorry for all the fans, because they are great, they have been incredible since I came, and I couldn’t believe how big this Club is before I came,” he revealed. “In London, I see fans everywhere and that’s so good, and they are so supportive, but obviously now it’s tough for us and for them as well, and I want to be all together.
“We all really suffer, but I believe that we can change things and especially for these two home games, I believe that they will come to support us, and we can show that we will have 12 players on the pitch, because we really need them.
“I know how loud they can be and this is so important because I believe that if they will be, we then give them back, and we all will celebrate these three points with them.”
