West Ham star underwhelming in the UEFA Nations League

The international break is coming to an end now, and the Premier League matchday will return this week. Several West Ham stars represented their national teams in the UEFA Nations League, FIFA World Cup qualifiers as well as international friendlies in these two weeks. While most West Ham players are coming on the back of good performances in this international break, one star was underwhelming in the UEFA Nations League. 

Recently, Czech Republic faced Georgia in the first match of Group B in the Nations League. West Ham stars Vladimir Coufal and Czech Republic captain Tomas Soucek both started in this match, however, Soucek struggled to provide quality to Czech Republic's midfield. Georgia dominated the ball possession with their high-pressing which led to Soucek making several misplaced passes in his own half which resulted in four goals conceded and the match ended with a massive 4-1 win for Georgia. 

West Ham star underwhelming in the UEFA Nations League

This match was a similar situation for Soucek, who had struggled to control the midfield for West Ham since the second half of the last season. There were a lot of rumours about Soucek leaving West Ham in this transfer window, and when the Hammers signed Guido Rodriguez, it seemed highly likely that he will replace Soucek in the defensive midfield role. However, despite transfer interest from a few clubs, Soucek stayed at the London Stadium this season. 

In his nearly five seasons at the club, the 29-year-old has been a great signing for West Ham. Aside from his midfield role, Soucek has also scored many important goals for the Hammers and is an experienced leader in the squad. However, now he mostly struggles to make successful key passes from the midfield and sometimes takes an extra touch while creating a goal scoring chance, which slows down the attack. 

Therefore, after the international break, Guido Rodriguez and Carlos Soler are highly likely to start in the midfield alongside Edson Alvarez.