"Difficult", Czech legend makes blunt admission about West Ham midfielder's potential to play in great sides of the past

Exclusive Interview by Alessandro Schiavone in Prague

Photo by Alessandro Schiavone

A Czech legend revealed that he's a big fan of polarizing West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek.

Soucek regularly chips in with goals and makes life hard for the opposition off the ball as he gives them no inch.

But all the same Pavel Horvath, who played for both Slavia and Sparta Prague before retiring in 2015, feels it's a big shout to tell whether the Hammers midfield cog would have had his place in great Czech sides of the past such as in 1976, 1996 or 2004.

In 1996 the Czechs reached the final of the Euros on this orbit while eight years later the country was blessed with the talent of Pavel Nedved, Petr Cech and Karel Poborsky in their prime. All the way back in 1976 Czechoslovakia went all the way in Yugoslavia after Antonin Panenka's legendary winning spot-kick in the final broke German hearts.

Horvath told Capital Football: "I don't know [whether he'd have played].

"It would have been very difficult.

"But Tomas helps the other players in the team and is a real leader.

"Even if it's not just about him [in the national team].

"He's a very funny guy and many people in the Czech Republic respect him for his professionalism and personality.

"He's our captain and leader in the national team.

"Many young players want to be like him because his career is very interesting.

"I hope he continues in the Premier League more years because we need him there."