CandH asked popular ITK ExWHUemployee to give his view on Mark Noble’s likely position under Manuel Pellegrini. Here’s his exclusive view.
So the seasonal question of whether Mark Noble should keep his place in the team has arisen and for me it is still the same answer…….yes, for now.
Towards the end of last season Noble was one of our best players again having seen off the usual calls for him to be dropped once more.
The icing on the cake was that crucial and absolutely superb goal against Leicester City that secured our status as a Premier League team.
Mark is a dying breed when it comes to footballers: Loyal, puts his body on the line and genuinely loves the club above anything else. He makes a great captain and is well liked and respected by all of the players.
Granted Noble isn’t the greatest midfield talent but in my opinion he is still very underrated. I believe with better players around him who will be making runs and providing him with options, his much criticised distribution will be massively improved.
When there are better players around them, some players improve hugely and I think Noble is one. If Yarmolenko, Anderson and Wilshere are ahead of him providing him with options then Mark’s passing and creativity will naturally improve.
Noble is a leader, motivator, breaks up the oppositions plays and starts our attacks and obviously offers a great option from the penalty spot.
If Noble suffers a dip in form then of course we have the options now to not have to keep him in regardless of that but until that point he deserves to start the season.
Holding midfield is one position we have yet to strengthen. If we do buy another CB as it seems we might, then Rice will probably be playing in the holding department with Noble.
Noble has been our best CM player of the last couple of seasons, even though poeple seem determined to retire him since he was 26. When he doesn’t play we lose. Ok we have better players now, but none in his position.
Some said that we should buy Wilshere because he has pace, but he has no more pace than Noble. I think Wilshere will push forward more, so we need Noble in behind him, unless we buy a new holding player.
Obiang was everyones choice to replace Noble, but has proved nowhere near good enough.
Noble should only be dropped if he loses form, or is replaced by a new and better player.
i think that Mark Noble/mr west ham/ loyal, and all the other plaudits that come with rare loyalty is true, suffice to say this only ever comes from mediocre players because a top talent would leave and take the financial and selfish option every time, and rightly so. but this very contradictory post is laughable, how you can expect fans to see him in their side, as long as there are other players better than him to make his slow clumsy brand of ineffectual football go under the radar. he should have bowed out many seasons ago and dropped to a lower level nearer his standard, and as for him being one of our best players at the end of a season is also untrue, he had a few games where he just wasn’t as bad as normal. career goals for a midfielder who also takes pens is embarrassing i won’t post the amount because you can look it up, but before you do have a guess at what a pro playing midfield over 318 times has achieved, and then ask would you want him playing for your club?
Noble is the heartbeat of the team. A real captain. I appreciate that we’re signing some real class at the moment but he brings so much to the team we’d be crazy to think about leaving him behind as we hopefully moved forward.
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I wonder whether our midfield getting over run at times last season was due to the players (the much maligned Noble and Kouyate) or perhaps the way that we were set up – lets see how players perform under Pellegrini and we might get a better idea of whether they deserve to be in the team
So if Noble does not play – who stands out as a replacement captain for MP
Zabeleta or Wilshere ……..then eventually, Rice
Mark has been a great asset to West Ham for a long time…..however, I think that this season will be his last. On merit, he won’t get a start when Lanzini is fit again
He’s a completely different player to Manu.
Noble has always been a better player when he has players around. Flair players like payet and Tevez have always known how to take advantage of nobles link up play. He does a lot of the the hard graft that goes unnoticed. In fact you don’t notice his industry until he’s not playing. He’s very good at doing the unthanked tasks. He knows his job is to keep the ball and give it to the players who can play a bit. He might be fast but he’s not a sprinter, he’s a long distance runner. During the game he often runs longer distances than any other player in the team. Again, this goes largely unnoticed. He’s a tackler, a presser, a passer. Doesn’t score enough goals from open play but we’re always relieved it’s him taking the penalties. He has a decent shot, should probably shoot more in open play. He’s been a great captain. He’s one of our own. Going forward, who knows. I remember watching a still fit Billy Bonds at the age of 40. Even so noble is 31 now and closer to the end of his playing days. I think it’s probably true that if he wasn’t mr West Ham he might have dropped down a level and be playing in the championship by now. He would make a good captain of a championship team, much like Nolan when he left Newcastle to captain us in the championship. I think noble will remain in the team this season maybe until Lanzini is fit again. When Lanzini is fit again and assuming wilshire is still fit and not injured I believe that long term noble will become a back up to wilshire. Again if wilshire remains fit and uninjured, in the long term I see him as the ideal noble relacement.
Blah blah blah … Noble is not a leader , not a good runner ,passer ,tackler , header ,shooter but he is loyal . He is a laughing stock to other supporters who know the have a better chance if the slug is in our team . He should not even be getting talked about at this stage . He is taking a shirt under false pretences . Get rid … NOW !!
Noble is still quality, and a great leader on and off. He was one of our better players second half of the season, once he was probably fit. The slug? You must be joking. Bubbles- the fact you can’t see that raises questions about what you know about the game. I’m sorry but you obviously don’t know a player.
I think a lot depends on the formation that MP is going to play against the opposition we are facing for that game. i.e. He will probably play a more attacking team at home against Huddersfield and a more defensive counter attacking team away to Man City. Therein lies the answer to whether Noble will start or not.
We all know its a ‘nice to have’ keeping the same team for every game as they build up that rapport with each other and get to know how each other moves and where they want the ball played to but historically MP won’t do that. If he doesn’t start the game he may keep Nobes as a super sub, coming on to tie up those difficult wins or see out the draw against a top 4 side because Nobes has that unifying quality of leading the team and giving his team mates the kick up the back side to ensure the result.
I personally think Nobes will be around until the end of his playing days. He is definitely all of the qualities as previous posts have mentioned and will bleed claret and blue to help his beloved club.
Good point that MP is now in the position to be flexible and adaptable with his team choice.