Tomas Soucek

[twoleftfeet]

Despised by many on here.

Man of the match, player of the season and should be captain.

legend. 

[El Scorchio]

Agree. And you'd hope to net at least 120mill + for those players. Lots rides on how much we can possibly get for Kudus. I think we have to be bold and make as much of an overhaul as possible.

[Sir Alf]

If he was prepared to not be a starter and more a squad player keep. But suspect he wont want that at 30 years old, deserves really to be starting for a team and has a decent monetary value for a player of his age. Yes scores a few goals but is often anonymous in games and arguably weakens us in open play which can lead perhaps to us conceding etc. Yes he works hard, makes some good blocks and headers but is not suited to the controlled possession game Potter is implementing. Lastly. As mentioned, we need money to reshape the squad and as much as possible. That means trade offs. I would sell Soucek, Emerson, Aguerd ( he wants to go ) Kudus ( does not do enough for the team when we are out of possession ), Alvarez and Paqueta.  Complete overhaul so as much money as possible to have a better chance of getting first choice transfer targets.

[El Scorchio]

Yup. You don’t win a thing with sentimentality. You have to be ruthless and make the objective best decision. Which in this case is probably cashing in because we need every penny we can get and he has value. 

[SurfaceAgentX2Zero]

Anyone who thinks 30 is old for a top (ish) level defensive midfielder hasn't been paying much attention for the past 15 years or so.

Its getting on these days in the premier league. We have one of the oldest squads don't we? I think the 30 argument was to back up the point that we should cash in now while his stock is high and being 30, his value will start to decrease now with age even if he carries on popping up with goals. 

Yes. Fair point re cashing in particularly.

[SurfaceAgentX2Zero]

Surface, I think I could name a few top(ish) ones, but who did you have in mind?

I was just thinking off the top of my head, but a quick Google gets me Kovacic and Gundogan at City, Fernandes and Casemiro at MU, Gueye and Doucoure at Everton, Norgaard at Brentford, Ryan Christie at Bournemouth, Matt Docherty at Wolves and Will Hughes at Palace.

Obviously, some of these are better than others, but there are some very good players included in that lot.

[Eerie Decent]

He played exactly like he does wherever he's deployed, he just didn't score on this occasion, which masks all his deficiencies in some people's eyes.

[Massive Attack]

Potter playing him as a No. 10 is comedy gold management.

He's never a No. 10, especially as we have Paqueta on the bench as well.  It reeks of desperation just trying to grab a cheap goal rather than believing it's his natural position where he can play to the best of his abilities. A box to box CM or DM should only be the positions Soucek takes up when played, not this oddball No. 10 malarkey. 

[zico]

He was a threat when we dominated for the first 5 minutes but when we are on the back foot he doesn't offer much.  Mind you few of them do.  Funny to think in a counter attacking system a few years ago he was scoring for fun.  Bar being a few years younger what was the difference?  Legs in the midfield with Rice in there.  You aren't getting that with Rodriguez and JWP.  

[Eerie Decent]

He'll touch the ball 5 times and score a header against Ipswich, and all will be forgiven.

[Lee Trundle]

He simply has to score otherwise there's no point in him being on the pitch.

He runs a lot, but he's never near the ball.

He's part of the reason why our midfield gets overrun.

Guilherme, who played 12 minutes, played the same amount of completed passes as Soucek.

[Rossal]

PS I don't agree Soucek goes absent. He always gives everything in midfield defense. Important blocks and clearances.
 

Was absent yesterday. Trying to play a number 10 sort of role and never once went looking for the ball. Just stands next to defenders hiding. 

15 passes in 57 mins of football in the prem at home is shocking. Shit passing accuracy aswell as usual. 

Yesterday is exactly what i was saying last week, at home he is a passenger at best. Will pop up in the box for the odd header or goal but everything else he is shockingly bad. 

[Keep dreaming]

PS I don't agree Soucek goes absent. He always gives everything in midfield defense. Important blocks and clearances.

All he gives is the ball away. Important blocks my arse, he is a tortoise and donkey in one. Nice guy, but far from good enough!

[Mex Martillo]

PS I don't agree Soucek goes absent. He always gives everything in midfield defense. Important blocks and clearances.

[Mex Martillo]

I think it comes down to how we go next season. If Potter does get us playing well in the top half pushing for a Europe, which I assume would be without Soucek who I just don't see in a possession based attacking team it's obviously fine to sell him. But if we are in a relegation fight against the likes of Leeds, Burnley, Everton etc. we would miss him enormously.
Anyone got a crystal ball?

[Massive Attack]

I guess a lot depends on how Potter rates him 

 

 

He should rate him quite highly considering how often he's contributed to digging him out of a hole by scoring 5 times and 3 clean sheets at places like Arsenal and Man Utd in the process. And he has made him Captain 5 times in Bowen's absence which says a lot.

[Fauxstralian]

I think if he was told he was only going to be a squad player he’d probably want to be off

I see Coufals son has just joined our academy
Guess he will be looking for a London club for next season
He did have an offer to go to Fulham in January but we turned it down 

[goose]

I would keep him as a squad player, he is 30? so still has some years left in the tank.




 

Watching him trying to run back after we have lost the ball would suggest he has fuck all in the tank 

yeh in guess you could say that!
did he ever have that kind of athleticism in the bank? not sure.

all comes down to budgets i guess, but for a team that has been struggling for goals I think he'd be good to have as an option.

[violator]

I would keep him as a squad player, he is 30? so still has some years left in the tank.



 

Watching him trying to run back after we have lost the ball would suggest he has fuck all in the tank 

[Gary Strodders shank]

I guess a lot depends on how Potter rates him and I should imagine given his shaky start and certain players throwing their toys out of the pram he would see a solid citizen like Tomas as a stabilising influence who he would prefer to keep in the camp.

The player himself having just had another child may prefer to stay put at the moment rather than have the upheaval of a move north for instance.

Financially he would benefit from a move but with Tomas you get the impression that's not the main motivation.

Probably not one of the biggest wage earners at the club either.

My hunch is he stays on.

[Eerie Decent]

If we were flush with cash, I'd be up for keeping him as an alternative on the bench, chasing a game or defending a long ball barrage, play in cup games against lower league etc.

But given we are apparently not flush with dough, £20mil for a 30 year old who has an impact 1 game in 3/4 but an absolute passenger in the others... bite hands off.

[goose]

I would keep him as a squad player, he is 30? so still has some years left in the tank.

As someone to step into the team if we have injuries/fixture pressure, and as someone to introduce from the bench if you need a goal.

 

[Sir Alf]

Yep that’s always what divides opinion. He can be anonymous in some games and for large parts of other games but pops up with valuable goals, blocks and clearing headers in defence but also he is one of the few that always tracks back ( albeit slowly due to physical limitations ) to block passing lanes and provide a presence even if he cannot press or get near opposition players running thru at speed. Although he has definitely not been alone on this latter point. 

He also struggles to link up play or provide much movement or passing options in a controlled possession style or tactics. That said, he has adapted better than I thought and has been able to play one touch passes in some of our slower build up play. Even played nice balls “around the corner” and longer passes accurately to feet.  But he is very slow for a team that wants to break teams down or play thru and around teams with controlled possession which is Potter’s tactical model or system. 

And its this last point that suggests to me he cannot be a starter in most games if we want to improve performances and results. But would he settle on being an impact sub or “squad rotation” player? Because that’s what I think will inevitably happen over time and probably next season assuming we do bring in younger, athletic, powerful and pacy central midfielders we desperately need. In short, he is still a valuable member of the squad but no longer a starter for me

[Rossal]

Soucek's goals have been worth a lot more than 20m to us this season.

He may not suit every style of play, but he's highly effective and scores goals.

How much would a pretty much guaranteed double figures striker be going for? It's only because he's a midfielder people are talking a out 15-20m.

He's not pleasing on the eye, but the impact he has on games when it counts is very very valuable.

For every game he scores in, there's 2 others where he is totally anonymous and playing with 10 men 

People mention the goals and completely forget the terrible performances that he churns out, especially at home where we will look to have most of the ball. Everton away this season was the best example. Yes he scored but up until then he was woeful, we were away from home with a passenger. I would rather cash in and replace with a footballer then go into next season hoping he pops up with a goal but knowing if he doesn't we'll most likely be shit. That philosophy is not sustainable in the premier league, and especially under a new manager and hopefully new style of play. 

[stubbo-admin]

Soucek's goals have been worth a lot more than 20m to us this season.

He may not suit every style of play, but he's highly effective and scores goals.

How much would a pretty much guaranteed double figures striker be going for? It's only because he's a midfielder people are talking a out 15-20m.

He's not pleasing on the eye, but the impact he has on games when it counts is very very valuable.

[fraser]

£20 million, yes please