West Ham United, the Academy of Football, has produced some world class players over the years, too many to list. Unfortunately, in recent years, those players have decided to move onto ‘bigger’ clubs. One player has remained at the club through good and bad though, and remains our longest serving player.
However, I kind of find myself looking at Mark Noble through my claret and blue specs sometimes. I always want him in the team, no matter what game it is. In my eyes, he never had a bad game. West Ham supporters love it, a home grown player plying his trade in the heart of the midfield. But towards the end of last season, when Nobes was injured, something in my head changed a bit.
Noble picked up an injury, which kept him out of the final few games of the season. “How are we going to cope?”, “Who’s going to replace our man in midfield?” – as it turned out, Gary O’Neil stepped up, and performed admirably.
This throws doubt into my mind as to how good Noble really is. Sure, he can spray some passes around, and doesn’t mind getting stuck in, and of course, is Mr Reliable when it comes to the penalty spot. But the thing with Noble is that he drifts in and out of games. Some games we don’t even notice he is playing, and the game just passes him by. How many times have you huffed and puffed when he takes a set piece and can’t even get it past the first man? Or he steps up to take a free kick just outside the box, and puts it over – how many goals has he scored direct from a free kick?
I have heard moans and groans from supporters, asking why Noble keeps getting overlooked for England. Well, let’s look who plays in his desired position – Michael Carrick. Is Noble better than Carrick? Well clearly not. The difference being that if Noble was better than him, why didn’t Man Utd spend £30m on Nobes instead?
I want to love him, I want him to be our best player, but sometimes, I do wonder if we would actually miss him…..
Well this article makes you out to be 1 of 2 things
1. A C**T
2. A Millwall Fan
Same thing really but what a absolute s**t article. Last 1 I read from u
Couldn’t agree more! What is it that some people want?
A player to be worth his wage and reputation. If Noble didnt come from Canning town he would be slaughtered almost every week!
Agree Bartlett. I too want him to do well and love nothing more than a product of THE ACADEMY being the heart beat of the side but week in and week out I am finding myself watching as every ball played through him he gets it and turns a break away into a slow down, every time he gets it he turns back on himself and plays a side ways pass. Now I am not advocating long ball football, I have been visiting the Boleyn for nearly 40 years and have seen some great passing football and if that needs to go side ways to keep it then great but sadly IMHO Noble ONLY goes side ways or backwards. Most attacks break down when he gets it. Sad as that is for me to admit I do see him as the make way for the improving Morrison (not yet but every now and then) IMHO Diame brings so much more to the team, although how Diame and Morrison who are both attacking midfielder’s would fair together is not my headache to have but to me Noble is slow and not the player I think we all really want him to be. I would like nothing more than for him to be our outstanding player and pulling the strings as a young J Cole did all those years ago. Lets get behind him and the team and give them all a lift no matter who is on the pitch. COYI
You can never doubt Noble’s commitment and passion for the club, we all love him for that. But as a player, for me, Noble is average. Looking at our first eleven now, he is one of the weaker links. I think he is one of those players who doesn’t have a strongest position. As the holding midfielder, where Big Sam plays him, Noble is too weak and off the pace. Games pass him by far too often. On the ball he is very tidy but very rarely do we see a defence splitting pass or moment of genius. Love him to bits but he’s not good enough in my opinion if we want to progress.
Yeah cause a player that scores goals every season and gets assist every year who already has 1 assist in 2 this year who wears his passion for the club on his sleeve is really someone we wouldn’t miss. Deluded twat
Only one deluded person here and thats you.
To compare Noble with some like Gary O’Neil who played at the end of season when all the hard work had been done is a disgrace. Normally I would not be drawn on such rubbish but this is the view of a complete idiot
Nobes lacks a bit of pace and could do with a few more goals from open play but he covers acres in every game, loves a tackle and gets the ball on the floor and passes it normally superbly to link up play. To say he drifts out of a game is a bit harsh when we have the biggest ‘drifter out of games’ in the entire premier league – Nolan!!! So he scored 10 goals last season, 3 were in the last game against relegated Reading. “scores goals from midfield” – no he doesn’t, he hangs around off the striker in every game, no way can he be described as a midfielder. Can’t see why everyone thinks the sun shines out of his oversized arse?
Nolan was still our joint top scorer before those 3 goals at the last game. So completely voids that argument.
Nolan over Noble all day every day.
Lol, Gary O’Neil if you watched him was shit last season even when filling in for noble. People get to caught up in running round like a headless chicken to realise, he won no tackles, lost the ball alot, couldnt pass, cant run with it and was constantly out of position and has less pace then nolan. The only reason he started getting good reviews is because they know nobody else was there to play that role and therefore gave him the benefit of the doubt. Noble may be slow but he reads the game well and if you watched him vs newcastle, why all eyes were on how well diame played, Noble was the clear unsung hero of that game because hes he no longer flys needlessly in to tackles as he intercepts the ball before the tackle has been made. Add in He covers alot of ground covering for Nolan and Diame when he goes on a run then you will see why he can be abit sloppy towards the end of a game. Btw the reason people think he should be in the england team is because, Players like Cleverly are crap but get in to the team based on playing for united.
Please dont compare Cleverley to our donkey Noble. Its embarrassing how far our fans go to suck arse.
Noble is to slow, not a great passer like everyone says and constantly gives away fouls.
Did nobody see the Newcastle game? I was there and my word what games Noble and Diame had!! Diame powered through everything and Nobles passing and link up was superb! Completely agree with the Nolan comments he needs to be dropped and should have been a long time ago! Hopefully with a fit Joe Cole and Morison coming on we will see less of him. We can all dream.
Agreed, i saw the newcastle game and thought Noble was the unsung hero tbh. He closed he covered he won tackles and passed the ball well and was literally running everywhere.
All i can say is you obviously dont get to see west ham play much – Noble goes about his job without any fuss and to me thats the sign of a great player. There was a reason why he got rave reviews from the likes of gary neville last season and in my opinion he has continued in the same way this so far – only two games down i know but he has played well in both. I for one hope he continues to remain loyal to us and cant wait to see him lead my team out as captain in the olympic stadium!
Some people just don’t know what they are talking about, Noble is a class act, rather have him playing for us than against us
At this moment Noble is the only player we have with incredible vision I enjoy taking a few minutes during a match to focus on just him, more often than not the lad knows where his team mates are and where he’s gonna send his pass about 5 seconds before most people would even realise he’s gonna recieve the ball, can’t praise him enough in that respect.
Noble is a very good footballer who has come on leaps and bounds since Parker left. He needs to add more goals to his game and the extra competition in midfield this season should see him up his game.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion hence why we have these forums.
COYI
Again Mark Squarball is a weak link,any one of us would wear our hearts on our sleeves given the chance,but you need more.The corners and free kicks from Noble are excrutiating to watch he has no pace can do a decent pass (sometimes forwards) but we need better . He wouldn’t be missed and is a lucky boy in my opinion
Arsenal got a few quid to spend….maybe they need a new midfielder for around £25m….
At the start of last season noble was one of our better players but for some reason his performances tailed off and he hasnt been as good since.i dont like him as a holding midfield player hes too slow and misses the last ditch tackle too often.bfs loves stats but amount of ground covered and passes completed meen nothing oif it hasnt had an effect on the game.nobes needs to be further forward where he can affect the game with his one touch clever passes.the team needs to accomodate morrison ,he is too good to be left out.joe cole in nolans positon ?diame and morrison rotating as the holder ,one sits one goes.the team should be picked on form and performaces and so a few people should be worried about there positions at the moment.
Noble is a mans player
so true!! he is a mans footballer for men who understand the game!! great passer whithout him we are stoke!!!
He can be a bit reckless in his tackles around our penalty box,he lacks pace and rarely plays that”killer ball”into the opposing box.Since Parker left he has developed a bit but not as rapidly as I hoped.Loyal,honest & very hardworking I make him sound like a Labrador in my mind he’s a slightly above average midfielder,when he was linked with the Gooners a few seasons ago I was glad he didn’t go -still am.
A mans footballer for men who understand the game ??? I like all players that give 100% effort but when they drop below there own previously high standards then they need a kick up the arse.noble has not been as good as he usually is ,cardiff came to us on opening day and had more posession of the ball as did newcastle .midfielders especially need to keep hold of the ball and pass it to one of our own players.against better teams we will lose if we dont keep hold of the ball.dont be too suprised if stoke dont have more of the ball than us.we will go home happy with a 1-0 scrappy game though.and i hope its nobes that scores it…..
That is strange some of the comments about Noble not being as good. In the papers after our last home game the Papers and Media were saying that HE not COLE should have got MOTM, and they do not give out compliments readily. They said he was and is the Heart and driver of West Ham.It is a shame that people keep having a go at him one day all the so called legends from here there and everywhere from all over the globe could do the dirty on us like DEMBA BA. Not that i would want it to happen but it will make people appreciate him. Just my opinion of course.
Against cardiff i thought diame was man of the match and against newcastle i would say reid or collins.i like noble but he needs to improve to keep morrison out of the team .he is definitely wot west ham are about and he actually cares but i just think he is not playing as well as he can.would never have a go at any west ham player because i dont agree with it .just giving an opinion on the article.and i very rarely agee wot is written in the rags by so called impartial media.some of the reports i read makes me wonder if they ever go to the games .
Growing up I was always taught that you can’t make a cake with butter and sugar alone. If supporters understand that then they’ll understand why we need him.
I’ve always rated him because to “us” the supporters he IS important. To have an English core/spine to a team sets the tone for the team and club and IF you were to look at a blueprint for success, look no further than Man U & Chelski over the years. Arsene inherited an English backbone to his successful gunners side and since that English backbone has gone so has their success! Tony Adams famously have to have a quiet word with Vierra when he first came to Arsenal…… to bring him in line and make him understand what the club was about and what the supporters expected. I always felt that IF Arsene really understood, Parker could’ve done a simple but great job for them.
Never underestimate Noble, Nolan or any of the unglamorous English players at the club as they carry more weight than all those fancy named footballers than many supporters care to understand.