As of Tuesday night, West Ham United’s big free-scoring giant Tomas Soucek is a Premier League record-holder.
Three months after Soucek equalled Patrik Berger’s record for the most goals scored by a Czech player in the history of the competition, he darted into Manchester United’s penalty area and feathered a delightful Jarrod Bowen cross past a helpless Senne Lemmens.
With 39 goals in just over 200 appearances, Soucek finally broke Berger’s Premier League record while helping to put West Ham United one point closer to 17th place Nottingham Forest in the process.
Tomas Soucek; Premier League record-breaker!
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Tomas Soucek of West Ham United celebrates after scoring during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Burnley at London Stadium on November 8, 2025 in London, England.
To paraphrase the club’s all-time leading Premier League marksman, Michail Antonio insisted the quality of the finish shouldn’t be underestimated. There is a surprisingly deft touch to this hulking, 6ft 4ins colossus of a midfielder.
And, while former Liverpool, Portsmouth and Aston Villa ace Berger sees his long-standing record slip away, another one-time Anfield regular in Vladimir Smicer was pleasantly surprised to see Tomas Soucek secure his place in the history books.
Liverpool cult hero Vladimir Smicer congratulated West Ham United’s Tomas Soucek
Smicer is currently fifth in the list of all-time Czech goalscorers. He netted ten Premier League goals during six years at Liverpool between 1999 and 2005.
“I was surprised,” Smicer tells iSport. “I would expect Patrik to be surpassed one day by an offensive player, not a guy who plays more like a defensive midfielder. Paradoxically, it’s actually an advantage for him that he stays more at the back.
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“He has an incredibly good estimate in the penalty area, and when he goes into the penalty area from the second wave, he can fully use his figure and feeling to find the ball. This makes him incredibly useful and, above all, effective, because scoring 39 goals from his position is a huge number.
“It shows his intuition and ability to read situations.”
Nuno Espiri Santi hailed his record-breaker’s ‘amazing’ form
Nuno Espirito Santo made a similar point as the dust settled following Benjamin Sesko’s heartbreaking 96th minute equaliser.
The ‘amazing’ Soucek still possesses that unrivalled ‘quality’ when it comes to ghosting into the box, popping up in the right place at precisely the right time.
“Of course, he also benefits from an excellent physique,” adds Smicer, who scored in the infamous Liverpool comeback against AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final. “He is tall, can score goals with his head and gets into positions where he can use his height.
“In addition, he has long legs and reaches where others cannot. But the key is the feeling.
“Goalscorers have this instinct. He is not exactly a goalscorer in the classic sense but, when he comes from the second wave, he reads the players’ formation, finds free space, rushes into it and scores a goal.
“I wrote to him as soon as he scored. I congratulated him on being the top Czech scorer in the Premier League. I think it doesn’t really mean that much to him personally and he would rather take three points and save West Ham!
“But scoring that many goals in this competition? You can only laugh.”
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Pablo of West Ham United during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on January 17, 2026 in London, England.
Our Hammers News readers named Soucek the Man of the Match in midweek. It remains to be seen if he features in the FA Cup fourth-round clash away at Burton Albion, or whether Nuno hands him a rest after six successive Premier League starts.
While explaining West Ham’s sudden upturn in form – four wins in their last six matches – Soucek highlights the importance of Paco Jemez’s arrival, as well as a renewed sense of team spirit.
Speaking of importance, he could have an even greater role to play in an attacking sense from here on out. West Ham will be without Pablo Felipe for a while, Nuno said on Thursday. Soucek, then, will be a candidate to step into the second-striker role behind a lone centre-forward.
“We’ve said we can’t play like individual players,” he said in midweek. “The team comes first and we can show our qualities. I’m just so happy that we’re starting to do that now.”
“Two months ago, not many people probably believed in us. They would have written us off. But we’ve changed our mentality, we fight for each other and we know what’s at stake.”
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