Tomas Soucek admits that he wants West Ham to “play more forward” following a disappointing result against Crystal Palace.

Despite extending their unbeaten run to 5 games, West Ham fans felt disappointed that they shared the points with Crystal Palace on Sunday. It was an overall uninspired performance but it was only due to a Mavropanos blunder that the away side were able to level the tie.

Unfortunately, despite improving in the latter stages of the game, the Hammers were not able to find another late winner via Tomas Soucek and he made it clear that he was not pleased with the result. “Obviously we wanted to win but in the end it was a draw,” he told WHUFC.com. “We made one mistake and we conceded.”

It was a fairly even affair, but the hosts dominated towards the end. If they had that urgency from minute one, it could have been a very different result.

“I think we looked like the better team in the last ten, 15 minutes,” the Czech confirmed. “We wanted more, to win, but we couldn’t score in the last minute. We take the point and now we want to get ready for another game”

“We won the last four games before this, two in the league and Europe, so it was a good way, and we were attacking in the last 15 minutes all the time.”

Recently, some have criticised the football that West Ham play, but Soucek has made it clear that he wants his team to play on the front foot. “I think we should play [like that final period] more, not too deep or too slow, we should play more forward and get them under pressure.”

“Now, we play a big derby in the next game. For us and for our fans it’s a very important game and we want to be ready for it.”

With Tottenham without a win in their last four, and West Ham unbeaten in 5, it could be a great chance to build confidence as well as a chance to play attacking football. Spurs are vulnerable at the back due to their ongoing injury crisis, so it is the perfect opportunity to do so.

Crucially, the Irons must take the positives from their last 5 games and build around them while also learning from their mistakes, particularly their tendency to concede early in the second half. Soucek has improved massively this season, it is time that some of the other players take a leaf out of his book too if they are to secure another season of European football.

By Charlie Bass