OPINION
West Ham midfielder Mark Noble has been a liability for his side this season but he wowed in the first-half against Manchester United on Saturday.
The 31-year-old midfielder so far this season, and the majority of his last campaign, was exposed in the Hammers’ midfield as his lack of pace was constantly exploited by his opponents.
However when tasked with facing Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba in the first-half of Hammers’ clash with the Premier League giants, he wowed.
Noble demonstrated his calmness, sublime passing ability, a desire to track back and more importantly kept Pogba in his back pocket.
The Man United player, who earns £290,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac), just couldn’t get the better of Noble despite clearly having the pace and skill to outplay him.
Yet despite struggling all season and finding himself to be a liability for his side, Noble raised his game and rolled back the years in order to ensure Pogba had a frustrating first 45 minutes.
Noble even was involved with Felipe Anderson opening the scoring for his side as it was the 31-year-old who spotted Pablo Zabaleta on the wing in order to pass him the ball to cross to the Brazilian for an easy chance.
If the veteran midfielder is able to keep his level of performance up then he is destined to have his best performance in a Hammers shirt for a while and silence all the doubters who question whether he is still worth Manuel Pellegrini playing him.
The Hammers went into the half-time break with a 2-0 lead and Noble should take great pride as well as credit for the part he played in his side having a lead to protect for the rest of the game.
