Contrary to popular belief around the East End of London, Mark Noble is, and never will be, a full England International.
When the time comes for Roy Hodgson to pick his England squad, time after time I see on Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, “Noble is better than so and so surely it’s only a matter of time.”
I’ve been a season ticket holder for four years now and have been studying Noble very carefully, now without a doubt he is a very good Premier League footballer but he lacks the basics that you need to become a top class international footballer.
His recent performances in claret and blue have made these basics more and more glaringly obvious, for example his decision making.
Maybe it’s the urge to do well for his boyhood club but his “passion” often gets in the way when he has to make an important decision in a game. Take the 83rd minute in the recent defeat to Everton for example.
When he recklessly took out Ross Barkley completely unnecessarily when he had cover in James Collins, it doesn’t matter that he won the ball he still in the referees’ eyes fouled the man, seeing red in the process. It left his side with ten men with eight minutes remaining against a very talented Everton side with renewed confidence and belief.
Sure enough from the resulting free kick Leighton Baines stepped up and bent over the wall and into the top corner. The Hammers struggled with 10 men and went on to lose the game 3-2.
It’s those little errors that separate a good player from a world class player.
Another pet hate of mine is a “famous” Mark Noble set piece. If I was West Ham manager the first thing I’d do is take him of free kick and corner duties. Seldom do you see the Hammers scoring from corners or free kicks. Time after time he either fails to beat the man at the near post or just floats it harmlessly down the throat of the keeper.
Now to be fair to Noble when it comes to penalties the boy is good, very good. His record is exceptional and the only way into the England team is the 120th minute of a quarter final to slot home his penalty in the shootout.
So before you think about your World Cup squads (should the Three Lions get to Brazil) take off your claret and blue tinted specs for a minute or two and be realistic. Mark Noble is good but is he really that good?
Rant over.
Tweet me @Bowdenwhu
Come on you Irons!
I totally agree. He lacks pace or the ability to “see” a simple pass or indeed the correct pass. Often choosing instead to ponder on the ball – incorporating a Scott Parker 360 degres circle – giving the opposition time to get men behind the ball. Then once he has done that he passes the ball to the person he should have passed it to in the first place. Failing that he will try a Glenn Hoddle “Hollywood” pass of which he is not really equipped to execute.
He should take a look at players similar in stature to him who are – in my opinion – streets ahead of him in his position. Players like Swansea’s Leon Britton (who ironically we released from your academy). I watched him very carefully recently. He keeps it SO simple. He wins it then looks for the nearest unmarked team mate and passes the ball to them; making himself available to receive it back if needs be. Simples !
Noble wants to be our creative force but without the ability to go past players or deliver a final ball he should be told to sit in front of our back four as a holding midfield player. Win it and give it. Facing the play would also stop him finding himself on the wrong side of an opposing midfield playaer, leaving himself no option but to lunge in from behind – as he did with devastating consequences in the Everton game
Be honest – if we had paid £5m+ for Noble would you all be happy with the purchase?
Not Nobles fault that nobody around him moves. He never has any options to pass to
Mate…try looking a little bit harder at matches and the glaringly obvious will probably hit you !!! Nobles strength is his ability to dictate play and keep possession. He cant score, and his defensive tackles aren’t the best, that I concur with. However, I lost count in the Everton match how many times he had the ball, looked up and there was NOTHING for him. Maiga has no idea about movement and showing for the man on the ball, and when a team sets up with ONE front man, isn’t it obvious that forward passes are going to be in short supply ???? Why do you think Mark plays across, back and short to fellow midfielders ??? Its to retain the ball as a secondary alternative to going forward. The team are set up for width and box delivery from the wings, not balls slipped into the box for crafty, quick forwards to feed off. That’s why West Ham are easy to defend against, because there is so little variation in the pattern of play with a lone front man. We have a packed midfield who pas between themselves and get no one fast. Nolan is a waste of a shirt and should have been ditched ages ago. Check out how many useful and clever runs he makes to show for Noble !!!!
Your piece on Mark Noble is based an a lack of football knowledge my friend. Watch the match a little closer next time.
Having coached and managed at semi-pro level and with a EUFA B Coaching Licence to my name, I can assure you the problems are not due to Mark Noble. Some of the comments here are an embarrassment.
Keep
Spence55 you are entitled to your opinion as am I. I find your comments about a “lack of football knowledge” patronising. At no point did I mention passes “across the back”. I only wish he would play short to fellow midfielders, but he doesn’t. As I said, take a look at Leon Britton, or, to use a more outrageous extreme Iniesta or Xavi. The pass it quickly – sometimes only 5 yards – but keep moving. More importantly they keep the ball moving
If by dictating play you mean “slowing it down continually” then I will agree with you. Often the correct pass is the most glaringly obvious one; even if it is just 5-10 yards. Possession can still be kept that way
I concede that the lack of movement from players in front of him – particularly from the statuesque Maiga – do not help Noble’s cause.
I have no problem with him being in the side providing he knows his limitations. Shield the back four, stay goal side of the ball and the opponent’s advancing midfielders, keep it simple, keep the ball moving – and let somebody else (NOT Collins) take the dead ball kicks
Tony Hammer. All I can say is we must be watching different games when it comes to Mark Noble. The guy is gutsy, ALWAYS involved (take note Nolan, Diame, Maiga) and never hides, even when its tough going or he may not be having the best of days. Mark Nobles whole game is based upon involvement, getting tied up in the action where it hurts. Hes a Hammer and wants to run his socks off for his team.
Any reasonable, balanced and competent analysis of the midfield , whether based on touches, passes, distance covered, or tackles made would see Mark Noble topping the table simply due to his ceaseless involvement. It stands to reason that more touches and involvement, especially in the tighter harder games at homes where teams are more defensive and forward passes are a rarity (one man up front not helping and a lazy immobile Kevin Nolan to play with) will result in more errors and misplaced passes.
The Xavi & Iniesta comparison is way off the mark. Have you seen how Barcelona play the game, with every man on the ball having 3 ,4 or 5 options available. That’s why they never give the ball away. Mark looks up and sees a wall of defenders, no forward movement and only a last resot “negative” pass available. Just spend time watching his body language when hes on the ball, being put under pressure and there is NOTHING to hit. You are shooting the messanger here !!
I get sick and tired of Hammers “supporters” giving our committed local lad a hard time of it. A guy who has played for England at every level and captained the U-21 team. Lets get off his back and be thankful we have a lad with Claret & Blue running through his veins.
For me, the useless Nolan and the ever ineffective showboating Diame (if we are talking about losing possession in bad areas take a look at this guy !!) are the real disappointments, not Noble who would run through brick walls for us.
I was not intending to be patronising. I just feel mark gets an unfair deal.
I totally agree. He lacks pace or the ability to “see” a simple pass or indeed the correct pass. Often choosing instead to ponder on the ball – incorporating a Scott Parker 360 degree circle – giving the opposition time to get men behind the ball. Then once he has done that he passes the ball to the person he should have passed it to in the first place. Failing that he will try a Glenn Hoddle “Hollywood” pass of which he is not really equipped to execute.He should take a look at players similar in stature to him who are – in my opinion – streets ahead of him in his position. Players like Swansea’s Leon Britton (who ironically we released from our academy). I watched him very carefully recently. He keeps it SO simple. He wins it then looks for the nearest unmarked team mate and passes the ball to them; making himself available to receive it back if needs be. Simples !
Noble wants to be our creative force but without the ability to go past players or deliver a final ball he should be told to sit in front of our back four as a holding midfield player. Win it and give it. Facing the play would also stop him finding himself on the wrong side of an opposing midfield playaer, leaving himself no option but to lunge in from behind – as he did with devastating consequences in the Everton game
Be honest – if we had paid £5m+ for Noble would you all be happy with the purchase?
I apologise to the Mark Noble faithful but I too agree with this article. Mark is just about good enough for WHU (in the absence of a better player) but only just. He might be West Ham through & through but he is a fair distance from the player we need in that role.
If we manage to sign this Swedish guy in January then we could well be saying bye bye to Mark Noble (if anyone comes in for him).
Noble isn’t even good enough for a struggling West Ham team. Championship player at best. I really can’t see what the chavs see in him. (chav corner)
Totally agree with the comments. He made a similar un-needed and rash tackle in the home game against Man Utd (the season we went down under Avram), when we were comfortably 2.0 up. Rooney scored from the subsequent free-kick, we lsot 4.2 and ended up going down that season. I still think to this day, that the confidence of beating Man Utd at home could’ve given us the confidence and momentum to turn the season round… winning that game alone would’ve taken us out of the bottom 3 at the time. Little things that have huge and greater consequences.
The other thing about Noble is that he is too slow to ever be a top class/world class/international class central midfielder.
What an easy target – so pick out the Everton challenge – the ref got it wrong – or the Man U one – these critics choose to ignore the numerous excellent tackles that Noble puts in in every match. No-one else but Diame does that. Nolan, too slow to even get there ( and if he does its awful like the one at Hull that he was lucky to stay on for) – the rest of our midfield too lightweight to even think of a tackle. I do totally agree on corners and free kicks _ Noble is awful – but then we remain clueless on corners, freekicks, even throw-ins – don’t we ever work on this in training. As for England, if Cleverley can play then Noble sure has a shout. “Northern Sold” – you haven’t a clue. Anyone who likes him must be a chav eh – that I certainly am not – just get yourself a grown up sign in and watch the game for a change.
Amen John. Spot on. Im sure half the posters on here are Spuds or Millwall pikeys
Read it again you thick twat. It refers to chav corner which is the Westside/Trevor Brooking corner. Everyone calls it chav corner. Perhaps if you went to a few more games you’d learn a little.
I suggest you watch Noble a bit closer with his poor Parker turns where he loses the ball countless times or his many sideways and backward passes which almost always puts his own players in trouble or they have to hoof it.
As I said, I agree with the article, which says “now without a doubt he is a very good Premier League footballer”. That he is.
I was just pointing out two of the main reasons why his level is ‘a very good Premier League footballer”, and not an International player.
You can argue Scholes was just as rash in the challenge, if not more so that Noble, and that he was no quicker than Noble, but the number of goals and assists Scholes provided at the very top level (Champions League, Euros, World Cups) put him in a different league to Nobes…. It is rare for Noble to score other than from penalties….
But he is a very good player, and I think we have a good pool of central midfielders in him, Diame, Morrison and Collison… if it wasn’t for Nolan’s goals and him being an excellent leader as captain, there’s no way he would get in the team ahead of those 4 players.. in fact I would say, if it wasn’t for the fact Allardyce is manager, I don’t think Nolan would be a first choice starter…. and it is the fact that of where Nolan plays and that he is captain (and starts every game) that we look so one dimensional and have become so predictable and easy to stop in games… Nolan’s impact as a player (not as a captain) is only really seen when we have Carroll upfront…. if Nolan does have to start every game and Sam won’t change his formation, then I would like to convert him to a holding midfielder and play two off Diame, Morrison, COllison or Noble in front of him….
Let’s not spend too much effort in picking fault with our “own” right now. What has been my issue over the years has been with players who don’t want to be at the club or players who don’t give 100% every time they step onto that pitch.
Mark Noble ISN’T one of those players!
There are a couple of things as supporters we ALL need to understand:-
1. With our current finances, these are the players that we need to support in getting us to the next level.
2. For our younger more influential supporters, posts like this only serve to make them feel inferior to other club’s supporters and for any outsiders to be reading stuff like this…………is comedy gold!
Lets get behind our players, especially leading up to this weekend!
COYI
How can anyone say that Mark Noble doesn’t have the ability to compete at premiership level? He consistently gives his all for the shirt and is our only player that seems to understand the value of keeping the ball. Noble is playing proper football while Big Sam is telling everyone to pump the ball up the pitch. Get Nolan out the side, bring in Collison along with Morrison and you have a midfield who can actually pass the ball and open up defences.
90% of you idiots don’t really understand football enough to analyze it you just think you do you have got taxi driver syndrome noble is an engine and wen you look at the stats from last season he rides high in the prem and up until fairly late on he covered the most distance on the pitch than allmost anyone and is a constant ball winner I think the FIFA fans who compare everyone to Barcelona would probably be better off supporting spurs or Chelsea or someone with a much larger transfer budget than us coz its just gettin boring now hearing all this this players shit that players crap blah blah
For anyone still following this thread , particularly Northern Sold ( tosser) – for you i suppose it was yet another awful game from Noble at Tottenham eh< terrible through ball to Vaz Te to set up goal 2 – how do you cretins who continue to slag him off explain away Sunday and numerous other fine performances – Hammerman, scottfree, The Cat – at least you guys actually watch and support the team – unlike the real thick twat to quote his own words who is more bothered about so called social demographics and what type of person sits where in the ground
I can’t believe what I’m reading here.
I was comparing Noble’s stats with that of his Chelsea contemporaries last night. He has made more passes, blocks, clearances and tackles than Mikel AND Ramires. Mikel has an astounding 90% successful pass completion but has attempted more than 700 less passes than Noble who sports an impressive 84% success from over 1200 passes. Ramires cannot match him in volume or percentage.
Without Mark Noble we would be in serious dire straits. Admittedly, I will concede that we have players better equipped to take corners and free kicks (Matt Jarvis AALLLLL day) than he but suggesting he’s not good enough for us!?!? My god…what’s wrong with you???
Downing, Taylor, Diame, Nolan, Demel, O’Brien, Maiga can all pack their bags as far as I’m concerned. Noble is our rock, the guy making the last ditch sliding tackle in the penalty area, the guy getting a 25 yarder slammed into him, the guy clearing the ball from danger. NO ONE does this more than Noble in our team. If he didn’t have so much pressure put on him through the glaring inadequacies of his teammates, he wouldn’t feel it necessary to dive in at Everton.
Wake up, lads. Know our place in the league and thank your lucky stars he’s at our club.
COYI