West Ham United captain Mark Noble has claimed that he is not disappointed by the club’s season so far.
The Hammers have hit a bit of a funk of late and now reside in 11th place in the Premier League table, with the once-achievable goal of seventh now looking out of reach.
Noble explained that the reason why the likes of Wolves and Watford were ahead of them in the race for seventh was because they were able to be more consistent.
He said: “I still say, if the chairman had been sitting in his office after four games with nil points and you had promised him 42 points with six to go, he’d probably have said you were crazy,” he wrote in his Evening Standard column.
“I’m really not disappointed in the season. We had a new manager with another way of playing, a new staff, loads of new players and sometimes that takes a couple of seasons. With a few more points here and there, we would be in seventh place.
“That’s the fine line between seventh and 10th. It’s the most consistent team who will finish highest and while we’re not there yet, Watford and Wolves are.”
OPINION
Noble’s thoughts on West Ham’s season likely don’t resemble those of the supporters. They will be bitterly disappointed at not having made more of a fist of it where seventh is concerned. That was an achievable goal for the Hammers up until recently, but they threw it away through their own inconsistent performances. On paper there isn’t much difference between Watford, Wolves and Manuel Pellegrini’s side. However, in practice – and certainly where consistency is concerned – the two former teams are so far ahead of West Ham. The quality of players at the three clubs is similar, but the other two are just superior teams in every sense of the word. They have a more coherent strategy, they’re harder to beat and they’re better going forward. West Ham have some great players but they are not yet a truly great team. Hopefully that will come in time but, considering the money spent last summer, Noble is likely to be in the minority of people who aren’t disappointed by the team’s season.
