Interesting. Whilst highlighting the versatility of his present squad - and going forward there is certainly an exciting range of options - Allardyce identified Noble and Vaz Te in particular as players who can perform different roles for the team.
When he arrived, Allardyce surprised us all by moving Parker forward - a role he floundered in - and pegging Noble back as the team's anchor. As the season unfolded, Noble increasingly became the hub of the team, pulling the strings, linking the play, picking the passes, closing down opponents, covering every blade of grass and orchestrating our play. When Noble played badly, the team played badly, and Noble's critics blamed him; when Noble played well, the team played well, and Noble's critics claimed it was in spite of a genuine midfield general.
Well Allardyce seems to disagree with those who seek to dismiss Noble as a go slow liability. Vaz Te offers the spark of unpredictability up front whilst Noble can sit and hold, or move forward and dictate the play from a more advanced position. He has the best passing range by far in the team and has grown, in my view, into a player of genuine quality.
Who needs Scotty when the man kept in Parker's shadow is actually a far more rounded player? Expect an England call up before the end of the season!
Good Post, Noble is loyal hardworking and West Ham through and through
ReplyDeleteKevin in Manchester writes...
ReplyDeleteI think Noble is a decent professional and deserves to be in the Premier League. The better the team; the better he plays but he lacks the ability to impose himself consistently game in game out or to drag a misfiring team up to par. Whenever I have seen him live I have been struck by how inconsistent his ball control can be. I hate to be the luke warm water between the fire and ice in this particular debate but in my view he is neither saviour or liability just a medium to good west ham player in a long list of such club servants we have fielded over the years.
He could, of course, be praising Noble to up his price by a quid or two with the January transfer window in mind. One can but hope.
ReplyDeleteI believe you're right regarding a call up.
ReplyDeleteNoble is a much better player than many give him credit for and his never say die character and steely determination is a little underestimated.
Hahaaa?! Are you serious? Hahaaa
ReplyDelete"Noble increasingly became the hub of the team, pulling the strings, linking the play, picking the passes, closing down opponents, covering every blade of grass and orchestrating our play." What the? Where the hell was I when this was happening?!
This article could quite easily have been written by Dale or Chandos
On this Noble-matter. You are absolutely right. He is a keyplayer in West Ham today, and hopefully will be for a lot of years to come. I can't really understand his critics actually, what's he not good at? Passing? Tackle?
ReplyDeleteDon't know about England call-up though. He's worth it, no doubt, but I just don't think it will happen.
I don't know in which alternate universe you live in but in the real world Noble is slow, can't defend and can't create. Unfortunately, that won't change no matter what you or Allardyce say about him. I just hope this Noble hysteria is not used to keep Benayoun out of the team now that we finally got him back.
ReplyDelete7 comments...
ReplyDeletethat's more interest than usual from the West Ham lot
Congrats
Unfortunately he wont get a call up as he plays for West Ham. Lets face it guys were just not big enough to produce out and out England internationals anymore. I completely agree with your comments though and reckon he's probably the best payer we've had since Benni McCarthy.
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