If David Moyes doesn’t drop £18m man for Brentford clash, he must be begging the West Ham United owners to sack him.
The Hammers welcome the Bees to the London Stadium tomorrow night for a game that is arguably our biggest and most important of the season so far.
Win, and we will be able to get our season back on track. However, lose and it may well be the end of Moyes’s reign in East London.
So what can Moyes change for Brentford, in order to guide his side to a much-needed win?
David Moyes must drop West Ham favourite for Brentford
Well, in truth, there are numerous changes Moyes needs to make to his starting XI and his tactics.
However, the one thing that he absolutely must do if we are to have any chance of beating Brentford is drop Tomas Soucek.
The 27-year-old has been absolutely awful this season, and he was for most of last term as well, yet he starts week in, week out for the Hammers.
I urged Moyes to drop him for the Arsenal game on Boxing Day. That fell on deaf ears though, and the Czech Republic international was the worst player on the pitch by some distance.
Soucek joined West Ham on a permanent £18 million deal in the summer of 2020 (WHUFC.com), having spent the previous five months on loan at the London Stadium.
He was absolutely brilliant during his first full season with the club, scoring 10 Premier League goals in the process.
Since then though, he has regressed badly. His passing is the worst you will see from a central midfielder in top flight football. Soucek registered a completion rate of just 42% against Arsenal!
The 27-year-old has become an absolute liability to this West Ham team. He is slow and ponderous when given the ball, and seems to give it away every other time he is in possession.
Continuing to start Soucek after his performances this season will be absolute insanity. Having said that, Moyes has history of trying the same things over and over again and expecting different results.
Perhaps the Scot is refusing to buckle and drop the ex-Slavia Prague midfielder because then it would be a sign of him bowing to fan pressure. He is a very, very stubborn man, let’s not forget. That has been proven time and time again during his two decades in football management.
And if David Moyes starts Tomas Soucek once again for West Ham against Brentford tomorrow night then we will have to assume that he is just asking to be sacked.
