Is West Ham captain Mark Noble still Mr. Reliable?

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The 4-0 defeat to Manchester City highlighted plenty of shortcomings in the West Ham United side. Primarily, a defence that is low on confidence being constantly exposed by a trio of City’s promising youngsters, but also, a defensive midfield partnership that are failing to have a significant impact on the game.

The latter certainly isn’t an issue that has just recently been exposed by a title-chasing side, but has been prominent in some form or another throughout the whole season. Mark Noble and Pedro Obiang were the holding midfielders that game. But whilst Obiang is young and still adjusting to English football, Noble is West Ham’s captain with plenty of experience under his belt.

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The 29-year-old hasn’t had the best of seasons in a claret and blue shirt. It wasn’t too long ago that there were outcries from twitter for Noble to be selected for the England squad, and everyone thought that time would come once Sam Allardyce took the helm. But alas, it wasn’t to be. It’s easy to understand why though. Mark Noble doesn’t seem to offer anything more from his game other than a good standard of long and short range passing. He rarely attacks and makes an average of less than two tackles per game. There are plenty of players across the league that excel in the departments that the West Ham captain lacks in, but his sentimental value ensures he is still one of the first names on the team sheet.

Mark Noble has had plenty of fantastic seasons whilst at Upton Park. The 05/06 campaign saw Hammers narrowly miss out on an FA Cup, whilst 10/11 provided scenes of Noble alongside Kevin Nolan forcing the Hammers into the Premier League via the play offs. Even last year saw Noble at his best. Yet this season, the spark has dwindled. One hopes that this isn’t the side effect of the ageing process – at 29-years-old, how many years does Noble effectively have left at the top?

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It remains to be seen, but with Chiekhou Kouyate set to return to the line up with immediate effect, perhaps Noble’s label as Mr. Consistent is set to be disappear sooner rather than later.

Featured image: All rights reserved by Farity.