This is the Souček we want. Without Rice he came to life, he was everywhere, they notice in England

At his most famous moment, the Czech midfielder had to wait for the last match of the calendar year. Souček on Vicarage Road led a nice goal to a big turnaround and his comprehensive performance withstood the strictest standards.

Thanks to him, the Hammers clearly won 4: 1 and ended the unpleasant score and game misery. They recorded their first win in the league since the beginning of December, when they pushed Chelsea. In the table, they moved again to fifth place, ensuring participation in European cups.

The right defender Vladimír Coufal also played the whole match in Watford reliably, another Czech representative Alex Král scored the first minutes in the Premier League.

But the most talked about is what Souček did in Hertfordshire.

The captain of the Czech national team lost a flattering mark of 8.4 from the ingenious algorithms of the analytical server WhoScored.com. He has not been better in the current year.

He has crossed the eight-point mark only once so far, in the August opening round. At the time, he also contributed a goal to a four-goal win on Newcastle. That shone 8.28 points at his name.

Take a look at the summary of moments from the match Watford – West Ham:

At Watford, he was particularly impressed with his third goal of the season. In front of it, he actively ran into the opponent’s penalty area and the clever aisle of the best player of the match Jarrod Bowen was promptly cleaned on the front bar so that the goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann only managed to look back. However, Souček also succeeded in many other game parameters.

“He covered every blade of grass on the field,” Hammers News wrote admiringly, pointing out how well the Czech footballer did in air battles, in stopping the opponent’s actions, in defensive cleaning, but also in creating offensive actions.

This is the Souček we want, fans of the Hammers agree. The obvious fact arouses attention: the Czech midfielder liked the greater freedom forwards resulting from a fundamental personnel and tactical change.

Veteran Mark Noble replaced the distant Declan Rice in the starting line-up, while the main task of the club’s iconic figure was to secure Souček from behind.

When Rice plays, nothing like that is possible. Manager David Moyes logically does not want to sacrifice the English representative, who is also capable of big things forward, on purely “shield” duties.

“Souček played the best of the season and it’s no coincidence. He got permission to play more ahead. This again gives Moyes the dilemma of how to get the best of both Rice and Souček as a pair,” Football.London wrote.

“This role has clearly benefited him, he has done a great job,” added London’s Evening Standard.

Tomáš Souček after the match in Watford: