Lockdown Soucek continues his resurgence as disjointed West Ham do just enough | OneFootball

Tomas Soucek celebrates a goal for West Ham

For 88 minutes, this was the sort of Europa League performance that fans of every English team to have graced this competition have seen over and over again.

Spurs, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea fans would all recognise the core elements. The multiple changes. The disjointedness. A hotch-potch of regular starters and fringe players trying and failing to locate a matching wavelength. The opposition raising their game for one of their biggest ever nights.

Then Tomas Soucek did what Tomas Soucek once again does, and pounced to score his second late winner in five days. The late turnaround at Burnley was a huge boost for the Hammers, and this opportunistic, striker’s finish to finally break TSC in Serbia could be huge for David Moyes’ side.

First and most obviously, they are now guaranteed to be in this competition after Christmas. That’s pretty important. But they now have the upper hand in the quest for top spot, needing only a draw rather than a win against Freiburg on matchday six.

It would be a huge boost. One of the best things UEFA have done in recent years, along with bringing in the Conference, is tweaking the Europa League formula to more significantly reward those who win their group.

Two games against a Champions League dropout is a tough task and an undesirable additional burden on the fixture list. Being able to skip straight past that is such a massive reward, one that is now very much in West Ham’s reach.

Just how vital that could be for West Ham is highlighted by their upcoming schedule. This was their first of 10 games in 34 days heading into the new year. It’s a relentless schedule and means nights like this and performances like this are entirely unavoidably inevitable. Clive Allen on commentary for TNT bemoaned West Ham’s lack of urgency and energy; he was right to note their absence, but it’s not something that should be pinned on clubs or players.

Something has to give. Rest and rotation is what’s required, and a low-energy, low-output performance that ends in victory is just about the ideal result in many ways. You’d like the goal to come a bit earlier, really, but that’s not the Soucek way.

The result itself is a significant one for West Ham in many ways, but the rejuvenation of Soucek is massively welcome news. This last week we’ve seen Lockdown Soucek, and Lockdown Soucek was one of the best midfielders around.

His goal today wasn’t quite as late or in truth quite so important as the winner at Burnley on the weekend, but it was a classic slice of Soucek at his most confident and committed. The ball Maxwel Cornet whipped in was tantalisingly good, but Soucek’s run was precise and his finish composed. Those runs from deep, beyond the strikers and in behind the defence, were a feature of Soucek’s play in his earlier West Ham days and this was expertly done.

On a night where few West Ham players in truth excelled, it was Soucek who looked nearest his best even before the goal. His was a sharp and precise midfield performance on a night where generally such precision was – albeit understandably – lacking.

One thing West Ham do now have in their favour for the upcoming fixture mayhem is a lack of travelling. After this sojourn to Serbia, the Hammers don’t actually now need to leave London until a Carabao clash in Liverpool on December 20. They’ve got three London derbies in the Premier League before finishing this group campaign at home to Freiburg in a game head-to-head record now means they don’t need to win and then host Wolves. Indeed, of the nine quickfire games the Hammers have coming up on this run into the start of January, that trip to Liverpool is now the only one outside London. They also host Manchester United and Brighton while travelling to Arsenal over the traditional Busy Festive Period.

With a fixture list like this, you have to be welcome for anything that makes it slightly easier. Five consecutive games – and eight out of nine – in London is one such thing. Pinching a win from a performance like this tonight is another.