We love a bit of romance at West Ham. Players who come through our youth ranks, show some loyalty and go on to be successful footballers are all held in the highest regard amongst fans.
The likes of Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole and Glen Johnson are prime examples of those players, but it’s been a very long time since we had a an academy graduate stay at West Ham and be successful without being sold on to a bigger club or for an obscene profit.
Mark Noble, though, is a player who is quickly becoming a West Ham ‘legend’ in his own right at Upton Park. He’s made over 250 appearances in all competitions and has scored 30 goals, most of which have been from the penalty spot.
However, over the past 12 months I have come across a mixed bag of opinions about the East End born midfielder. Some believe he’s still average and doesn’t add much to the side, while others believe he is the most important fixture in our midfield.
Many argue that, because he’s a die-hard West Ham fan like the rest of us, he deserves the respect he gets and converts his passion for the club in to top-quality performances.
A Twitter poll I did earlier confirmed exactly what I thought. He’s not only a fans’ favourite, but he is becoming more and more recognised for the work that he does for the team each week, most of which goes unnoticed by neutral supporters and the press. A few of the comments read:
“@WestHamWorld Let's have your views on Mark Noble. important player for us or not? #WHUFC
>>Our best & most valuable.
Case closed. The End— Kid Charlemagne ⚒ (@_Sibbo) September 17, 2013
@WestHamWorld Very important one-team player. The midfield engine. And West Ham fan. #whufc
— ⚒ Mike ⚒ (@WestHamDriver) September 17, 2013
@WestHamWorld very. Only player with true vision in the whole midfield.
— Jack (@WestHamUtdFan) September 17, 2013
And they’re are all right if you take a look back at his statistics from last season.
Firstly, you rely on your midfielders to create chances for the forwards. They are the proverbial engine room. They’re meant to make things work. And make things work is exactly what Noble did last season.
As you can see from the table above, Noble made 38 key passes in the Premier League last season, second to Matt Jarvis (46).
That alone shows you that if he’s give the opportunity to roam the midfield and play his own game, he can make things happen more than any other central midfielder at the club. It’s arguably is best characteristic as a midfielder, but it still goes unnoticed by many.
Further more, his passing has greatly improved over the year, and last year we saw his ability to distribute the ball effectively at its very best. As you can see from the table below, Noble was clearly the best passer of the ball in West Ham’s midfield last season. By an absolute mile, as well.
So his statistics alone prove that he’s an instrumental part of Sam Allardyce’s midfield. It’s arguably the strongest aspect of the team at the moment.
Last year Noble played 28 Premier League matches and achieved a 35.71% win percentage, while the Hammers could only managed to win 20% of the ten games that he missed, indicating that we certainly miss his contribution when he’s either out injured or suspended.
His tackling is strong part of Noble’s game. Last season he was the second best tackler in the West Ham side – behind only Mo Diame – with 75% of his 116 attempted tackles being successful.
Noble’s main weakness, however, is his lack of goals from midfield. As a the Hammers’ penalty taker – and a reliable one at that – he’s going to score four or five a season if we’re lucky enough to get the decisions. But what about from open play?
The simple fact is that he doesn’t shoot enough. His shooting lets him down dramatically and is preventing him from become the ‘perfect’ midfielder, as it were.
Take a look at his shooting statistics from last season:
Rock bottom amongst the midfielders last season. Eight shots in 28 matches is an average of 0.28 shots-per-game, which is terrible. What’s more, his shot accuracy was the best of all the regular first-team midfielders (63%), proving that he can shoot…
For years Noble has been a regular starter in our midfield and has performed with so much passion and belief from day one, but you just can’t help but feel he needs to take a look at Kevin Nolan‘s attacking play and implement that into his own game. Nolan’s goal scoring ability from midfield is quite something and Noble can learn a lot from that, improving his game ten fold.
If we only we could merge Noble and Nolan in to one player, eh?
What do you think? Is Noble as important as the stats suggest? Or was he just the best of an average bunch last season? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
I’m not one for statistics I prefer to make judgements with my own eyes and they tell me mark noble is just class! He doesn’t try to be anything other than who he is and that is just fine by me! I have said this before, instead of some people concentrating on some of our players perceived weaknesses and what they can’t do, they should I suggest, concerntrate on how good they are! For we have some fantastic players who would be and are converted by a large number of prem teams both here and abroad! We are west ham! COYI!
Arse !
Mediocrity shouldn’t be good enough for anyone, but the reality is that we are currently mediocre and there’s not a lot we can do about it. We have to deal with what we’ve got, which is currently a very good side that just happens to be short on strikers. It’s not the end of the world like a lot of fans are making out.
All this article set out to do was to outline the importance of Mark Noble in our midfield, which it did extremely well. Our Twitter poll indicated that 95% fans believe that he indispensable.
I don’t know entirely know what you’re trying to suggest is ‘happening’ but what I have to told you – and the 1000+ others who have read this and, may I point out, don’t appear to have a problem with the facts – is that we’ve got a midfielder who is doing his job for us. Simple.
I’d also like to point out that I’m not arguing with you, I’m backing up the facts. Whether they be statistics or via any other type of information, the evidence is there for all to see.
Call me an anorak all you want, but you’re the only fan I’ve come across that disagrees with this article and has decided to choose his own opinion over the facts. It’s like me saying I believe that RVP wasn’t the best striker in the Premier League last season, even though he most definitely was.
Lastly, I’d like to go somewhere else to bore other fans but this happens to be my website and my article. Sorry about that.
You are so blinded by statistics that you can’t see what is actually happening . There is no point in arguing as you are obviously an anorak . If we are is such a poor state why don’t we promote some of the kids , not bring back an unfit donkey who does not score or create chances for others . Your stats seem to have convinced you that mediocrity is good enough for the Hammers . Go bore the pants of some other teams morons who are prepared to listen .
At no point did I say he was world class in this article, but I do point out that he was our best passer and second best tackler last season. That pretty much wipes the floor with your comments.
You say that Noble would be top of all the bad lists of statistics, but claim that statistics mean nothing. What point are you exactly trying to make here?
The stats don’t lie, whatever way you look at them. It’s your opinion that Noble is ‘poor’ but your opinion means nothing when it’s been proved wrong.
For the record, I’d have Carlton Cole back in a heartbeat. We clearly need back up strikers and he’d provide decent cover for the time being.
It’s obvious you’re one of the negative ‘kicker wetter’ fans who aren’t happy unless there’s something to moan about. We are NOT going backwards. All we’ve done is progress as a football club over the last two seasons, yet there are still fans like you who insist that we’re going through a crisis. If being promoted and then finishing tenth in the Premier League is going backwards then I dread to think what moving in to the Olympic Stadium will be like for you fans.
What a load of rubbish … The facts jj are that we have been lied to by the owners and idiots who produce articles on statistics trying to prove that people who are clearly not good enough are actually word class . Noble is poor. . Statistics prove nothing . What happens on the pitch is what counts … bad passes, ball given away , tackles missed , free kicks wasted ,backward passes , passes putting collegues into trouble are what you should be looking at Noble would be top of all of them . Of course we must compare what we have now with what went before unless we are happy to stand still or go backwards . Next you will be saying Cole should return .. Funny that NO ONE else wanted him on free transfer .
Thank you, Philtheiron. Quite confusing that, despite the article clearly proving how effective he is, fans still disregard the facts and continue to keep the blinkers on.
I fear that if we don’t bring in a Yaya Toure or a Wayne Rooney in the next couple of years the fans might actually start to explode with disgust and shame.
Fans always bring up the past and the calibre of players we used to have, but they also forget that we are now in the present and the game has completely changed since then.
What is it with some hammers fans? Why can they only see what a player isn’t rather than what he is? Noble being a prime case in point. Noble is a very hard tackling, hard working, talented defensive midfielder who very effectively screens the back four, breaks up play and sets the team up going forward! Oh and he is west ham through and through! What more has he got to do? The same for Nolan, leads the team on and off the park, scores goals, is hard as nails and adds much needed bottle where quite frankly over the years there has been precious little! Ok not the quickest but we are a far better team with him in it than without. Dropped a division and dragged us up with big Sam at the first time of asking when we were going out of business! But he isn’t messi! GIVE ME STRENGTH! Stop slagging players off and get behind the team! We need all our supporters during this difficult time! COYI!
I think the statistics outlined in the article prove that he is more than just ‘loyal’, don’t you think?
He was our best midfielder last year – apart from his lack of attempts at goal – and I think you can’t dismiss those facts purely because he feel he isn’t as good as the midfielders we had over 20 years ago.
Noble is proven to be an important fixture in our midfield and this article proves it.
Slow , cumbersome , can’t tackle ,can’t read the game and only scores from penalties …. But yes he is loyal !!!!! couldn’t tie the boots of most of the quality midfield players we have had over last 30 years . He is in the Pike,Parris and Holland league of average uninspirational plodders… but he is loyal !!!!!
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