OPINION
In recent weeks there has been one West Ham United player who has stood head and shoulders above his teammates with his performances: Mark Noble.
The Hammers captain has been absolute superb of late, running the show against Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton before Sunday’s 4-1 victory over Watford made it three wins in a row to end the season for Manuel Pellegrini’s side.
And he continued his phenomenal form against the Hornets, scoring twice and putting his stamp on yet another game in the middle of the park.
The 32-year-old rolled back the years with his, and West Ham’s first goal, dancing past Craig Cathcart and Christian Kabasele before slotting cooly past Ben Foster. He looked more like one of his skilful teammates, Felipe Anderson or Manuel Lanzini, than the grizzled top flight veteran he is.
He added a second 12 minutes from time at the spot, dispatching the penalty in no nonsense fashion as usual. In the team’s final game of the season, it was their skipper who stole the show.
The Englishman certainly doesn’t look like a player nearing the end of the line, as some viewers have accused him of being at times this season. In a game where his fellow veteran Pablo Zabaleta struggled, Noble bucked the trend with a masterclass of a display against Javi Gracia’s side.
There’s no doubting that Noble is the Hammers’ most in-form player at the moment. His dominant display on Sunday emphatically underlined that.
Credit to him for producing a renaissance down the stretch this term. He is looking better than ever – Watford can certainly attest to that.
