---
title: "Pundit blasts criticism of West Ham ace, calling it a ‘disgrace’"
canonical: "https://readwestham.com/2022/09/26/west-ham-paddy-kenny-fumes-at-soucek-criticism-whufc/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Niall Keenan"
section: "West Ham News"
published: "2022-09-26T18:00:00Z"
modified: "2022-09-27T06:02:38Z"
---

# Pundit blasts criticism of West Ham ace, calling it a ‘disgrace’

**Former Premier League goalkeeper Paddy Kenny has labelled the criticism of West Ham’s Tomas Soucek from his national media ‘a joke’.**

The Hammers ace represented the Czech Republic in their [4-0](https://www.sofascore.com/czech-republic-portugal/eUbsoUb) drubbing at home to Portugal in the UEFA Nations League at the weekend.

Vladimir Coufal put in a solid display, ranking first for tackles and interceptions among his teammates, according to [SofaScore](https://www.sofascore.com/czech-republic-portugal/eUbsoUb), while ex-Iron Alex Kral outshone Soucek in the engine room, putting in a shift that saw him make more clearances and win more duels (5/5) than any other member of the side.

Journalist Paul Brown has said that Soucek [hasn’t looked the same player](https://www.givemesport.com/88061641-west-ham-52-cap-star-not-seeing-eye-to-eye-with-moyes-at-london-stadium) this season and there have been calls for [Flynn Downes](https://twitter.com/Joshua_Mbu/status/1567982289472335872) to start for David Moyes.

Following the defeat to Portugal, Czech outlet [Seznam Zpravy](https://www.seznamzpravy.cz/clanek/sport-fotbal-jina-liga-glosar-na-kolenou-nuzny-vykon-hracu-bez-formy-trestali-ronaldo-a-spol-215266) called the 6 ft 4 in ace ‘completely useless,’ which hasn’t sat well with Kenny.

He told [Football Insider](https://www.footballinsider247.com/pundit-claims-tomas-soucek-victim-of-disgrace-at-west-ham/): “For your own papers to call you useless is a disgrace.

“He’s not useless. Players have bad games. Everyone in the world has had a bad day at work, we are all human beings at the end of the day.

“I’m not having that for one minute, it’s a joke. Your own papers too. On West Ham, they faded away at the back of last season, it started then.

“Last year they should have bought a striker and things might have looked better. I think it’s a snowball effect.

“They haven’t been the West Ham we have seen of last year and it’s not just Soucek. A lot of the players haven’t improved.”

Indeed, Soucek isn’t the only player not performing at the London Stadium.

The club sit in the [bottom three](https://www.premierleague.com/tables) at the international break after [five defeats](https://www.flashscore.co.uk/team/west-ham/Cxq57r8g/results/) from their first seven Premier League matches.

It’s a run that has led to [increasing pressure](https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-40964234.html) on Moyes, with the east London outfit currently holding the division’s [joint-worst attack](https://www.premierleague.com/tables).

With a 7.07 average SofaScore [match rating](https://www.sofascore.com/team/football/west-ham-united/37), Soucek is West Ham’s second-best performer this term, behind Declan Rice, but he will be hoping to wave off recent criticism in order to ensure his side get a much-needed three points at home to Wolves on Saturday evening.