Tomáš_Souček

Tomáš Souček

Tomáš Souček

Czech footballer (born 1995)

Tomáš Souček (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈsoutʃɛk]; born 27 February 1995) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club West Ham United and captains the Czech Republic national team.

Quick Facts Personal information, Date of birth ...

Club career

Slavia Prague

Souček joined Slavia Prague's youth team at 10 years old,[2] after joining from hometown club Slovan Havlíčkův Brod. Slovan Havlíčkův Brod subsequently netted £1.5 million following Souček's transfer to West Ham United in 2020, covering their running costs for the next ten years.[3] He had trials with two second-tier clubs, Frýdek-Místek and Vlašim, but they did not want to sign him.[2] Viktoria Žižkov’s manager, Jindřich Trpišovský, watched Souček play and was not convinced of his ability but was persuaded to take him on a loan costing nothing to the club.[2]

Souček made his league debut on 8 March 2015 in Viktoria Žižkov's 1–2 Czech National Football League home loss against FC Fastav Zlín. After returning to Slavia, he scored his first league goal on 16 August 2015 in Slavia Prague's 4–0 home win against FC Vysočina Jihlava.[4]

Souček broke into the Slavia Prague first team in 2015 and played 29 out of 30 league matches in the 2015–16 Czech First League for them. However, in the 2016–17 season, his position in the first team was lost due to the arrival of Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui and Souček played only 93 minutes in three months between September and December 2016.[5] He went on loan to Slovan Liberec during the winter transfer window, reuniting with former manager Trpišovský, who later managed Souček at Slavia Prague, following his appointment in December 2017.[6]

On 9 May 2018, he played as Slavia Prague won the 2017–18 Czech Cup final against Jablonec.[7]

In the 2018–19 season, he won the domestic double with Slavia Prague and was awarded the Czech First League Player of the Year award.[8] On 17 June 2019, Souček extended his contract with Slavia Prague until 2024.[9]

West Ham United

On 29 January 2020, Souček joined Premier League side West Ham United on an initial loan deal until the end of the 2019–20 season, with an option to make the transfer permanent in the summer.[10] On 1 July, he scored his first goal for West Ham in a 3–2 win against Chelsea, having had a goal disallowed earlier in the same half by VAR.[11] In West Ham's following league match, he scored again to give his team a 2–1 lead against Newcastle United, in an eventual 2–2 away draw.[12] West Ham announced the permanent signing of Souček on 24 July 2020 on a four-year contract for a fee of around €21 million (£19 million).[13] In August 2020, he was awarded the Czech Golden Ball.[14]

On 1 January 2021, Souček scored the first Premier League goal of 2021 as West Ham beat Everton 1–0 at Goodison Park.[15] During added time in a game against Fulham on 6 February, Souček was controversially sent off upon review after VAR appeared to show him strike Aleksandar Mitrović in the face; referee Mike Dean's decision was criticised by many of Souček's teammates, manager David Moyes and a number of pundits who protested Souček's innocence.[16][17] West Ham launched an appeal to have the decision overturned in the aftermath.[18] On 8 February, the red card was rescinded.[19] He finished the 2020–21 season as joint top scorer, with Michail Antonio, both having scored ten goals.[20] Souček's exploits during the 2020–21 season won him the Hammer of the Year award.[21] On 7 June 2023, Souček played in the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League final, against Fiorentina in Prague. West Ham won their first trophy in 43 years with a 2–1 victory.[22] On 1 January 2024, he signed a new contract with the club until 2027.[23]

International career

Souček appeared in all three matches of the Czech Republic under-21 team in the 2017 UEFA Under-21 Championship.[24]

After representing the Czech Republic in several youth categories, Souček made his debut for the senior side on 15 November 2016 in a friendly match against Denmark.[25] He made his competitive debut on 10 June 2017, in Czech Republic's 1–1 away draw against Norway in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.[26]

On 24 March 2021, Souček scored a hat-trick in a 6–2 World Cup qualifying win against Estonia.[27] He was a member of the Czech Republic squad for Euro 2020 where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Denmark.[28][29] Following the tournament, Souček was confirmed as the new captain of the Czech Republic, after Vladimír Darida's retirement from international football.[30]

Style of play

Souček has built a reputation as an energetic box-to-box midfielder with both defensive and attacking qualities.[10] He is also known for his strong physical presence thanks to his 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) frame.[10] Souček was likened to Marouane Fellaini by José Mourinho due to his heading ability from set-pieces.[31]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 April 2024[32]
More information Club, Season ...
  1. Includes Czech Cup, FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, eleven appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  7. Appearance in Czechoslovak Supercup
  8. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 26 March 2024[38]
More information National team, Year ...
Scores and results list Czech Republic's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Souček goal.[39]
More information No., Date ...

Honours

Slavia Prague[40]

West Ham United

Czech Republic

Individual

References

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    "Tomáš Souček". West Ham United F.C. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  2. [2]
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    "Tomas Soucek's boyhood club 'bank £1.5m from West Ham transfer' which will cover budget for a decade". Evening Standard. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
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    "Slavia - Jihlava 4:0, domácí si zastříleli a slaví první ligovou výhru". idnes.cz (in Czech). 16 August 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
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    "RENTGEN: Štít Ngadeu? Řešení z nouze, které nyní táhne Slavii". iSport.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 8 December 2016.
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    "Mám se vrátit do Slavie, víc neřeším, říká Souček před odletem na Euro". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). 14 June 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  7. [7]
    "Jablonec 1–1 Slavia Prague - Liga 2017/2018". footballdatabase.eu. Football Database. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
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    "Nejlepším hráčem sezony je záložník Souček, koučem Trpišovský". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). 27 May 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
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    "Slavia roste, Tvrdík z toho někdy nespí. Cílem je LM i skončit bez ztráty". Blesk (in Czech). 17 June 2019.
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    "West Ham United complete loan signing of Czech midfielder Tomáš Souček". West Ham United FC. 29 January 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  11. [11]
    "West Ham 3-2 Chelsea: Yarmolenko hits injury-time winner". 1 July 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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    Edwards, Luke; Bull, J. J. (5 July 2020). "West Ham remain in relegation trouble after twice throwing away lead against Newcastle". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
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  21. [21]
    "West Ham United supporters crown Tomáš Souček 2020/21 Betway Hammer of the Year!". West Ham United F.C. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  22. [22]
    "Jarrod Bowen strikes at the last to earn Conference League glory for West Ham". The Guardian. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2023.
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    "'I feel that this is my home now' - Soucek signs until 2027". BBC Sport. 1 January 2024.
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  25. [25]
    "Česko 1-1 Dansko" [Czech Republic 1-1 Denmark]. Aktualně.cz (in Czech). Economia. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  26. [26]
    "Vpředu se Schickem, návrat Sivoka. Fanoušci proti Norsku věří i Součkovi". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). 10 June 2017.
  27. [27]
    "Estonia 2–6 Czech Republic: Tomas Soucek scores hat-trick in comfortable win". BBC Sport. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  28. [28]
    "Vladimír Coufal and Tomáš Souček called up by Czech Republic for UEFA Euro 2020". West Ham United. 24 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  29. [29]
    "Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark". BBC Sport. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  30. [30]
    "Souček si užívá dovolenou a těší se na roli kapitána: Možná bude víc rozhovorů". Deník (in Czech). 14 July 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  31. [31]
    "Jose Mourinho: West Ham lucky to draw; David Moyes has found his 'new Marouane Fellaini' in Tomas Soucek". Sky Sports. 19 October 2020.
  32. [32]
    "T. Souček". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  33. [33]
    "Games played by Tomáš Souček in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
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  36. [36]
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  37. [37]
    "Games played by Tomáš Souček in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  38. [38]
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  39. [39]
    "Souček, Tomáš". National Football Teams. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
  40. [40]
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  41. [41]
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  42. [42]
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  43. [43]
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  44. [44]
    @fortunaligacz (22 May 2019). "Nejlepším záložníkem Tomáš Souček ze @slaviaofficial🔴⚪️" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  45. [45]
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  46. [46]
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  47. [47]
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  48. [48]
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  49. [49]
    "Souček získal podruhé Zlatý míč. A zase s rekordním náskokem". sport.cz (in Czech). Právo. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  50. [50]
    Dosadil, Pave (12 June 2023). "Souček vyfoukl Barákovi další trofej. O Zlatém míči rozhodl jediný bod!". sport.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  51. [51]
    "Tomáš Souček and Vladimír Coufal presented with diplomatic award for promoting Czech/UK relations". West Ham United F.C. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
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