So Doctor Evil has just paved the way for the introduction of Papa Doc by criticising the midfield for Portsmouth's second goal, pulling no punches as he said, "We were disappointed we conceded the second on the break as the midfield didn't do their job and we got caught out." Now given Noble is the holding midfielder, I suspect we can take this as a big hint that the steel of Diop will be added to the team's backbone for the next game.
And if Noble loses that holding midfielder role, what hope has he of finding a place in the team with Lansbury, Collison, Nolan, Faubert, Taylor and Bentley chasing the other midfield positions? I very much suspect that Markie will then find himself out in the cold, so much so that he may be shipped out in January.
17 comments:
I said this on the org and the holding midfielder cannot be made fully responsible for there goals as when they attacked they did it in numbers and unfortunatley even with noble back helping out defence they were outnumbered on numerous occasions because of Nolan and Lansbury and Im not saying lansbury didnt have a good game but he was missing for a chunk of it and Nolan was woeful today and if the other team are attacking in numbers the number one rule is you get everyone back to help defend which we didnt do. Noble also played major parts in two goals today
who are you on the org fred?
fred149
I see everyone on the org is raving about Noble's performance today. For me he was as average-poor as usual. He scored a penalty and had a good run, but come on you can't just do two things that make the highlight reel and then say you had a good game or an ''outstanding'' game as some orgers would say. If the holding midfielder plays well in a game you don't concede three goals. Fact. It doesn't matter if the rest of the midielders and the forwards are up the other end of the field picking their noses for half the match you just don't concede three goals. How many times do you see Man Utd's holding midfielder broken against while most of the rest of the team are attacking in a match? A lot. And how many times do they concede three goals? Never. I know we are not Man Utd but we are in a way the Man Utd of this league and so our holding midfielder should be able to shield our defence a lot better than Noble can.
This is where Diop comes in. He brings so much more to this role than Noble can and that is primarily due to him being hugely athletic. I know this isn't Noble's fault but it is a fact that you physicaly need to have a lot about you to play in this position. Just look at the best holding midfielders in the world, for example Yaya Toure, Mascherano, De Jong. They all have an athleticism about them that is vital to the role. This is why I think Diop is the final piece of the almighty puzzle that is the recovery of West Ham United.
For so long we have watched The Noble-Parker axis passively give up territory and possesion in the midfield for West Ham. With this new Lansbury-Diop partenership I really don't think this will happen anymore. These two, between them, will bring power, energy and a bit of composure on the ball that was sorely lacking when we watched Noble and Parker.
We are finally on our way towards having a proper team that we can actualy be proud of everybody. (Even you Hammers Fan)
Dont agree johntan noble was excellent today and what you say is also not true, a holding midfielder can play well if you let in goals because most of the time today we were outnumbered, the amount of times i saw nolan and lansbury walking back leaving us exposed to often becasue pompey attacked in numbers but we didnt defend in numbers
Good points. Well said Johntan. It is the plain truth about Noble. Sam needs to fix this problem now. Today we were lucky it didn't cost us any lost points.
So we've gone from Parker bashing to Noble bashing have we ?
Didn't see the pinpoint cross to Cole for our 4th goal then Johntan ?
If anything Sam's criticism of our midfield for Pompey's 2nd goal was directed at Nolan who had a poor game today & went missing again for long periods but in Nolan's defence he is still not 100% following his injury.
We will be fine guys,FFS stop looking for a scapegoat every time we play,we have a good squad which will get better the more they get used to playing with each other,more creativity in the midfield with Lansbury & Bentley & more options up front with Baldock.
Try and remember we have picked up players that have not had a full pre season with their previous clubs or are coming off injuries.
Jonny Hammer
Think it's harsh criticizing Noble for the goals when one was a deflection from a set-piece and another a penalty.
As for players fighting for places, that's surely a good thing right? Take Cole. He had to sit out for Piquonne to start with. Then when he got his chance he bagged 4 goals in 4 games. And Faubert finally getting a run of games on the right wing. Seems like a different player this season.
Competition is good, unless you're Ilunga of course.
Mike, it was a shocking penalty to concede and Noble was at fault.
01.06: That was actually Taylor who crossed that ball.
HF: who are you on the org fred?
fred149: fred149 - hahahaha
Priceless!
It was Matty Taylor who made the pinpoint cross to Carlton Cole, not Mark Noble! What are you talking about 01:06???!!!
Johntan - have you ever had the misfortune to watch Diop play? Take it from me we had him at Pompey for 3 years and he was consistently the worst player we had - dreadful, cant pass 5 yards. Good game yesterday, thought we gave you a run for your money.
Jonny, that pinpoint cross for Cole's goal was by Taylor, not Noble. But I'm the blinkered one.
Mike, i thought Faubert was crap yesterday, was probably putting more effort in in previous games hoping to get signed before transfer window shut.
Apologies guys,Taylor it was that crossed for our 4th but I still stand by my comment that Noble had a fine game & will continue to improve under Sam,Parker leaving will do him the world of good.
Jonny Hammer
I thought Ben Haim went down way to easily, certainly a feeling shared from the reaction of the West Ham players, (though having said that, you'd be expected to act that way even if it was stone wall).
As for Faubert, I really didn't think he was bad yesterday at all. True, he might have been trying harder to secure a move out, but I like to think that he's also playing better because he feels he might get a good run on the right wing, which is a better spot for him than right back.
He gets forward frequently along with Matt Taylor, which is why we're able to stretch teams and score so many. It's 4-3-3 in disguise ;)
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