**West Ham’s Tomáš Souček looks set to miss Czechia’s crucial World Cup play-off encounter with Ireland tonight**.
The news comes following a suspected falling out between Souček and management behind the scenes.
The multi-time Czech Player of the Year was recently stripped of the captaincy of his country, with Wolves’ Ladislav Krejčí taking the armband for Miroslav Koubek’s side.
That’s according to Czech outlet Infotbal, who claim the reason behind the decision stems back to November. In the final home game of their World Cup qualifying campaign, the Czechs beat Gibraltar 6-0.
After the match, Souček ignored his country’s fans, reportedly because of what he felt was unfair criticism towards the team in the weeks prior.
A month before that game, the Czechs lost 2-1 away at the Faroe Islands – an embarrassing result which almost saw the minnows leapfrog Koubek’s side in Group L of qualifying.
It has been a rocky ride for Czechia, who just about made the play-offs, despite being in a five-team group that included the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar and Montenegro.
Compare that to Ireland, who had to beat Portugal and Hungary to secure a play-off spot, and you can understand why Czech fans weren’t best pleased with their side.
However, although Souček’s actions were out of character and could be perceived as disrespectful, the decision to strip him of the captaincy and leave him out of the starting XI seems harsh.
It also seems unwise on Koubek’s part. This is not the kind of drama you want coming into such a huge game. The decision to drop the man who has captained and led his country for the last few years could come back to bite the Czech boss.
Souček has a habit of turning up in big games – just look at his performances in Europe for West Ham during the Moyes era. What he did may have been wrong, but his punishment will also hinder his team.
It will be interesting to see what role Big Tom plays tonight, but I think Koubek’s decision has his team starting on the back foot in Prague. Additionally, I feel for Souček, who always shows such pride in representing his country.
But as an Irish West Ham fan, I won’t complain – less chance of him getting injured, less chance of him scoring against us. Happy days!