Mark Noble is being tipped for a return to the Hammers midfield for tomorrow night’s clash with Dinamo Zagreb.
That’ according to the Sun who claim that he may be David Moyes’ pick in front of the hostile Croatian crowd as we bid for a win in our first Europa Cup clash of the season.
It would mean too that the manager will be going for a more defensive approach to a game which is capturing the imagination of the Hammers faithful …as it should.
The Sun is remaining a little uncommitted on their suggestion which pre-supposes they have no more information than any other media outlet.
And the implied thought that Noble can keep the team calmer in the face of provocation is an odd one given the Hammers now have fully fledged internationals in the team.
One of Declan or Tomas may be rested but we would have thought that presents the opportunity for Alex Kral to strut his stuff.
Time will tell if the Sun has finally got one right!
Personally if we want to win the Europa League, Noble would not be playing and it would be a shame to play him if we are serious about winning it, also players like Lanzini and Diop have a lot more to contribute and I am not sure how a decision to play Noble ahead of them could be made. Moyes for me is shown too much loyalty to players like Noble and Dawson instead of trusting more in the younger players like Lanzini and Diop. Most fans would see Lanzini as more mobile and more creative than Noble and is a much better option in a midfield 3 than Noble. I really hope Noble does play but coming on at the end when we are 2 up !! But for me it is more important to start playing players like Lanzini and Diop.