Graham Potter is settling into life at West Ham. (Image: PA)
On Monday night, Graham Potter, the head coach of West Ham, makes his debut appearance at Chelsea and acknowledges that he had attempted to sign Tomas Soucek while he was at Brighton.
Tomas Soucek is “fantastic,” and Graham Potter has been waiting a long time to work with him.
Earlier this week, the Czech midfielder commemorated his fifth year with West Ham. However, the traditional midfield player would have ended up on the south coast if Potter had gotten his way when he was in charge of Brighton.
In January 2020, the new Hammers manager had even met with Soucek to try to work his magic, but West Ham prevailed. The box-to-box sensation has benefited from it, and Potter is relishing the delayed chance to teach him when he travels to Chelsea on Monday night to see another former club.
“He’s a dream in that sense; he gives it his all every day,” Potter remarked. We attempted to sign him at Brighton, so I am familiar with him.
“He’s been excellent. He has had great success over his five years here. His assets include his versatility, ability to cover ground and play any role the team needs, and ability to aid in both areas. He is a pleasure to deal with.
When Soucek got away with a flagrant handball late in a draw against Chelsea two years ago, he went on to bring Potter even more agony.
Then, Potter’s detractors claimed that his post-match evaluation was too forgiving of referee Craig Pawson.
And he felt compelled to draw attention to the irony of that analysis in a week where official abuse had once again gone too far.
Tomas Soucek has been a huge asset to West Ham. ( Image: PA)
He remarked, “It was a great save.” “I was told at the time that I ought to have been more irate and nasty to the referees.” We have chuckled over it. He looked at me knowingly. It happens and is a part of the game. On Monday, maybe, he will be able to block certain things without using his hands.
Potter is anxious about Lucas Paqueta’s availability prior to the head coach’s return to Stamford Bridge, but West Ham is hopeful that captain Jarrod Bowen will be healthy for the trip to Chelsea.
Brazilian Paqueta has missed training due to a groin ailment, but Potter is growing more optimistic that Bowen can play a month after breaking his foot.
“Jarrod appears hopeful,” Potter remarked. “We have a few more training sessions left after he trained for the past two days. Thus, we have hope for him.
“Lucas, all we’re doing is keeping an eye on things. He should be able to train by the end of this week, we hope. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see. This week, he hasn’t trained yet.
