What will be Alex King’s role in a Hammer’s jersey? He’ll be a rotation player, but he doesn’t have to worry about the workload

The Czech colony at West Ham is growing, the new addition is Alex Král. The Czech midfielder arrived just before the transfer deadline and became the club’s latest summer signing. The English club acquired him as a guest player, and a permanent transfer is expected in time. The Czech midfielder needs to shine this season. What will be his role in the Kladivar camp? Will he break through the star midfield duo? How often will he play?

An awesome 6th place finish last season

We all surely remember the great ride Soucek and co. had last season. The London club finished in a sensational 6th place and clinched a place in the European Cups. Promotion to the Champions League was not far away either, all they needed was to get 3 more points. Apart from Soucek and Coufal, the mainstays of the team were midfielder Rice, spielmacher Lindgard and canon Antonio.

Several important factors contributed to West Ham’s success. Coach Moyes introduced a system of play that worked well.

The game was based on a solid defence (8th best in the league), a compact midfield (Soucek and Rico formed an impenetrable midfield duo), West Ham was very dangerous in the air (with a great contribution from Soucek) and the productivity of the offensive players (Lindgard = 9 goals + 4 assists, Antonio = 10 goals + 5 assists, Bowen = 8 goals + 5 assists).

West Ham was an underrated team. It didn’t get off to a perfect start last season, but then it took off. He was able to surprise a lot of favourites and play balanced football with them. The advantage was that he could only focus on the Premier League, the narrow squad that coach Moyes had at his disposal didn’t bother him.

Moreover, the Hammers were able to maintain their high performance throughout the season, completing the whole season without any major crisis. They also made great use of the favourites’ hesitations. Tottenham, Arsenal or Liverpool didn’t shine last season.

West Ham have a tough defence ahead

Now West Ham will definitely not be underestimated. The whole Premier League already knows what this team is capable of. The London club will play more competitions, including the Europa League. It was clear that the position from last season would be difficult to defend. Moreover, the Hammers had a narrow squad and needed to strengthen.

The club management took this to heart and brought in some interesting reinforcements during this transfer window. Areola, Dawson, Zouma, Vlasic and King came in. The sixth team of last season thus strengthened almost all the positions where the boot was pushing.

The squad is much wider, it looks quite strong. It looks like this squad could be successful in both the Premier League and Europa League.

What will Alex King’s match activity be like?

In David Moyes’ system, he can only play as a defensive midfielder. These positions are played in the starting line-up by Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice, who will not be easily displaced by the newly arrived Cech. It will depend a lot on how quickly he can adapt in the tough Premier League.

He caught on pretty quickly at both Slavia and Spartak, after which he was a steady member of the starting lineup. The Czech and Russian leagues are very physically demanding competitions. In terms of physical demands, he should be ideally prepared for the Premier League.

West Ham have 4 central midfielders in the current squad. Namely Soucek, Rice, King and club legend Mark Noble. However, the latter has seen his best days behind him, ending his illustrious career after the season. He’s more of a leader in the locker room than on the pitch.

The London team will play in a total of four competitions this season. Premier League, Europa League, Carabao Cup, FA Cup. That’s roughly 50 games. Moyes can’t afford to tire Rice and Soucek, rotation will be necessary. Which opens the door for Alex King.

If he is indeed third choice at defensive midfielder, he should play all the way through. He could get 20 or so starts this season, maybe more.

That’s enough space to convince coach Moyes of his qualities. All in all, the Czech midfielder will get ample opportunities to show that he is the right player for the Premier League. It’s up to him to grab the chance of a lifetime.

Source: Twitter