Mark Noble has responded to those calling for him to be dropped with remarks that are set to wind up the critics even more.
There have been regular calls for the captain to be rested with criticism of his form this season growing across various performances.
But Noble refuses to countenance the complaints and in an interview with Sky Sports News HQ he refused to choose his words in response too carefully.
He declared: “If I am really honest, a lot of people who now go to football don’t really understand the game.
“Football is a game of moments now and if someone does four step-overs, they’ve had an incredible game. That’s not something I do. It’s just football, you’ve got to live with it.
“Players like Wayne Rooney, some people want him out of the Manchester United team. That’s why we our captains of our clubs, because we can handle that pressure.”
The 29-year-old midfielder has made 31 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring five goals and supplying two assists.
And he argued: “It’s probably been the hardest [period] of my West Ham career because we’ve had so much to deal with off the pitch,” Noble said.
“Obviously the move to the new stadium, the Dimi situation, so much has gone on and we lost four of our best players to injury in pre-season, which is hard to replace.
“You’ve got to stick at it, the players have dug in and though we’ve lost a couple of games, in this day and age you’re not allowed to lose games.”
And he’s right isn’t he? There are whole blog sites of supporters who think they know more about running a football club than the Dave’s do, know more about what players we should sign and how the Dave’s should spend their money, having not being able to acrue that kind of wealth themselves, the same people can tell Mark Noble how to play a game that he has played all his life whereas they’re too fat to leave their keyboard all day and have played at the level that Noble is playing at, or any level at all.
That’s not to say Noble should or shouldn’t make the team by the way. As Greavsie used to say (he probably still does) “it’s a funny old game”
Noble is a good player and has a role to play also as the captain but the game is very quick now and Bilic doesn’t know where to play him. If he starts he has to have legs behind him [Obiang and Koyoute] he can give a pass,score and is dangerous around the oppositions box. If you play him deep he is far too slow and gets well found out.
If not bring him on when the game has slowed so he is fresh and can have an influence but again Bilic doesn’t do this and sticks to the same team at home to Chelsea as he does away to Bournemouth. Taxi for Bilic
To come out with these comments after an appalling run of games from him is the final bullet for me. He hasn’t got the athleticism for his position anymore and quite frankly we’ve been playing with 10 men when he is on the pitch. Against Chelsea I watched him solely for a few minutes and he was simply clueless. Now he’s turned on us the fans, he can do one
Not really anything to do with ‘understanding the game’ though has it. It’s understanding and recognizing form. And Mark currently has none. Oh and as many who don’t ‘understand the game’, do. And they are saying pretty much the same thing – Kouyate and Obiang need to start.
Noble is totally correct.
Too many supporters are living the TV game, where running very fastly up the oither end and kicking it very hardly in the goal is everything.
The odd stepover is more important than 95 minutes of unselfish workrate and tackling, and keeping posession for the team .
Beckham started the rot, by being advertised for bending the ball around a wall, when not many could tell you what the rest of his game was about.
People want the game to be about exciting snippets, and it never will be. Luckily coaches and our owners know it can’t ever be.
It’s not new. 40 years ago thousands were critisizing Butch Wilkins for being a crab. This because he played 40% of his passes sideways. They didn’t know he was the first of the modern day holding players. His job was to keep possesion while the team looked for space on the field. The same happened to Geoff Pike for us. He got slaughtered, but was a very fine footballer. Because he didn’t run fast and dribble like Devo, or break up defences like Brooking, he put up with abuse. Nothing changes but I though we had learnt that lesson once.
By the way I will critisize Noble when he has a crap game like anyone else. I said he should be rested last Saturday, but he was no worse than others on Saturday.
Well said Sleepy, post of the day, nail/head.
Well said Mark but lets be honest here the internet has created a base for the ardent detractors and misery spreadersto have free reign.
I make not one observation directly to anyone who has contributed on this piece it is an observation of the wider picture with regard to which it is so very very easy to pick targets and rapidly fire out dross about them.
We have our very own trolls even though they support us it seems some days lol
They certainly are not very ‘Original’ lol
Noble is a decent player, his passion for the club is unquestionable, we know the game is about moments but if when the moment happens it is you conceding a dangerous free kick because you didn’t read an attack and set off late to track your runner, or if it is you that in that moment is caught out of position consistently or if it is you that in that moment gave the ball away for the team to counterattack and score then those are the moments people will remember, he stll has a role at the club but he should be rested until he finds his form, even the best captains lose form, Gerrard lost his team a league and the cup despite being one of the best captains in PL history, his legs had gone and his form deserted him, Terry likewise used to get the ball played behind him and didn’t have the legs to catch players on the counter despite being one of the best readers of the game in English football, Noble isn’t in their league but the mistakes are highlighted by the way the game has changed, PL football may still be more physical than most but currently at the elite level it is all about moving the ball quickly and pressing, as he says he has the character to handle the responsibility so he should have the character to sit on the bench and watch a few games.