New Irons era underway as Soucek/Rice call shots

Mark Noble’s absence from the Hammers team last night looked like  the dawn of a new era at the end of a special 90 minutes.

Omitted as a result of a hamstring problem, the captain watched from the sidelines as the team gave probably its performance of the season against Chelsea.

It was noticeable from the start that with Declan leading the team, and Tomas Soucek having his most effective performance, that something very new was underway.

Mark’s disappearance as a first team regular has been regularly discussed for a couple of seasons now and with his absence last night came the final realisation, were it needed, that the midfield we saw against Chelsea, and for which many have been calling, is now the way to go.

Soucek has a reputation for goals whilst being a pretty complete defensive midfielder and – alongside Declan – looked a top top player.

With Fornals providing some ceaseless running it was pretty clear that this was the way the team will presumably be evolving over the remainder of the season.

It’s too early to bring the curtain down on Nobes completely and with so many games upcoming he will find himself used.

But there can surely be nobody now who believes that the four we saw last night are going to be replaced in a hurry unless injury or suspension intervenes.