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‘Unplayable’: Yannick Bolasie blown away by West Ham United midfielder Tomas Soucek

Kyle Archer
Kyle Archer

West Ham United have enjoyed a shock challenge for the European places under David 🌼Moyes this season and few have been more important than Tomas Soucek, according to Yannick Bolasie.

The Everton-owned forward, currently on loan in the Championship with Middlesbrough, has expressed his surprise🌠 on at the way Soucek is being underrated, having been overlooked for many people’s Teams of the Season.

Soucek was the Hammers’ top-scorer i♕n the Premier League for much of the campaign but has since been joined 𓃲on by Michail Antonio and January loanee Jesse Lingard.

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(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Soucek also remains to have featured for all 3,240 minutes of reg𝕴ular top-flight action over the east London side’s 36 matches, with only the outfield players of teams who have played elsewhere in the division.

He is also the outright leader for aerial duels contested (362) and won (217) by any outfield Premier League player, and ranks second for shots blocked (1🔥5) by midfielders (), to warrant (5) than any of his teammates.

Soucek’s towering presence in the engine room and impact at both ends of the field has not slipped under Bolasie’s radar, with the £25million () former Crystal Palace attacker naming him n𝔍ext to Bruno Fernandes and Ilkay Gundogan as this term.

“How I’m not seeing Soucek in any teams of the season is a madness… The guys been u𝓰nplayable!” Boﷺlasie noted on .

TBR’s view:

Soucek was remarkable for West Ham during the first half of the campaign, but saw his importanc🍸e take a step back following the mid-season arrival of Lingard as the Manchester United loanee was able to⛦ take over some of the burden.

The former Slavia Prague star, who the Irons spent £19.1m () to sign after a successful loan spell last year, was also restricted in how he could ope🐈rate after Declan Rice sustained a in March as Soucek lost his freedom to stretch the pitch.

Soucek still covered a lot of ground in the engine room and remained vital to West Ham maintaining their challenge for European football, but maybe not at the level some feel was needed to earn a place 🌌in their Teams of the Season despite Bolasie’s glowing endorsement.