This week the challenge is to write about Sunday’s penalty villain quickly turned penalty hero- and one of my favourite players- Mark Noble. Noble is, as we all know, a local lad, an academy product, and is West Ham through and through. He’s also the clubs longest serving player, and, as of 2014, will have put in 10 years of senior football at the club.
He’s been a mainstay in our midfield over the past years, bar taking some time off for a trapped nerve injury this season, and love him or hate him- he’s been pretty consistent.
With this in mind, the question I’ve been asked this week is if we rate him higher and let his mistakes slide a bit more than we would other players because he’s the closest thing we have to a home grown hero, or would we be equally happy to see him start regularly for us if he was a player who was born and raised elsewhere?
As I’ve said above, he’s one of my favourites- but I am conscious of the fact that he’s not the best player on the pitch. The reason he’s a favourite for me is his constant effort, dogged hard work, and passion. Seeing him cry after losing 4-3 to Spurs in 2007 (an incredibly hard fought loss) showed how much he genuinely cares about the club he plays for; something way too rare in football today. His passion for the club is undoubtedly because of his local upbringing, which has certainly appealed to many fans.
Unfortunately, he’s not a favourite with everyone. Arguments against him are… how to put this delicately… he’s not exactly an exciting or flair player per se, and well, let’s just say that it doesn’t look like he’ll be England’s first choice corner taker any time soon. Looking through comments about Noble on this site, he’s referred to as “really … off the pace” and “slow, lacks vision, can’t do the hard yards and can’t take a free kick,” so I’m very aware that not everyone is a fan.
But for those of us who are firmly in the pro-Noble camp, do we go easier on his shortcomings (the corners, dear lord, the corners) because we want a local boy to succeed, and are we less harsh on him because we still want to believe in the capability of the Academy to produce quality players? Would you still have him in your team if not for his commitment and dedication to West Ham?
If any other player on the pitch hit the first man in corners as often as him, I’d probably be livid at that player starting regularly (or at least continuing to take the corners) so I suppose I’m wearing my rosy tinted ‘hurrah for homegrown’ glasses when watching Noble. I know that I want him in my starting XI, but the main reason remains his passion- which is really a result of his locality and upbringing- and of course I like the idea of having members of the squad that we ‘grew’ and developed in the face of an increasingly foreign Premier League.
I also do believe he’s a good player, and his consistency is something I value. His hard work leads to results, and I hope it continues to do so for many more years.
But what does everyone else think about Mark Noble? Is he who you want starting for us, and, if he is your top choice, do you think you rate him higher because he’s a local lad? Would love to hear what you think, either below or tweet me @makingthemarrow
Why he insists on taking corners is beyond me, especially considering the fact we paid £10 million for Jarvis for his crossing ability. However, Noble is a very reliable penalty taker and nearly always puts in a good shift in midfield. I think he learned a lot from Scott Parker in that respect and, for me, has done a great job in filling that role over the past couple of seasons. Finally, I’ll add that the loyalty he has shown towards West Ham shouldn’t be underestimated and for that he should be commended.
I like Noble. He has honest motives, and is a good footballer. Would like to see him really try and dominate the game, call for the ball more and make himself available.
For me, the reason he and the other midfielders do not score enough goals is because we play too deep as a team. Our midfield rarely run past our forwards in attacks and are always too far away to score.
Midfielders are not supposed to go past the forwards. Lol. There job is to get them the ball. You usually play back, due to lack of speed. If you cover someone faster, you back off not to get beat.
I wouldn’t worry about any sentiment from BFS about local loyal academy boys. Look at Tonks. I wouldn’t care if we did show some favouritism for players who stick with and love the hammers. But we don’t. Noble will get shat on at some point in the near future.
Mark Noble is the tits!
Up the ‘ammers!
Of course midfielders go past forwards. Attacking runs from deep is how you expose the gaps in defence created by the forwards dragging defenders out of position. The most successful teams play fluid football not regimented stuff when they have the ball. Agreed when the opposition have it then defensively you need a more strict shape.
Lol. If midfielders go past their forwards, who are they crossing it too? C’mon mate. You have watched BFS enough, to see he wants long balls from CB or crosses from the wings. You have to have target men, hence, your Forwards. He does not play like Barca.
Stupid piece! Noble debate? There Is no debate! Noble is a class player who always gives his all for the club he loves! What is there to debate!?
He is an avg player. Slow as a tortoise.