The big Mark Noble debate...

[I am Legend]

kovac did ok, but was the worst player on the pitch for us

as for noble, i wanted him to be rested, and he has, now its time to start bringing him on as a sub, at least he can come on and show some passion when we need it. if not for injuries today he might well of been used that way

[the pink palermo]

Can I suggest that Behrami's removal from a wide position is an important factor in our improved attacking?

I'm starting to conclude that our biggest issue is buying a central midfielder to partner Parker, of Parker's calibre.

An interesting observation .

Behrami was awful against Hull when he was tried in the middle- didn't make a tackle .Having said that Junior needs to do more of his defensive duties as well , and Kovac is just poor .

Perhaps it is midfield where we are short of real quality , and it's putting pressure on the back 4 .

[NeverSayDie]

Think the criticism of Kovac's performance yesterday is a tad harsh considering the fact that his inclusion by Zola actually allowed Parker the freedom of Upton Park and his excellent runs contributed heavily to a 5 goal output.

[Fionn]

Did I read somewhere yesterday that Noble had created the most goalscoring chances of anyone in the league from set pieces?

[derek zoolander]

Did I read somewhere yesterday that Noble had created the most goalscoring chances of anyone in the league from set pieces?

If you did then thats a surprise considering how **** his corners and free kicks are. 90% of his corners don't make it past the first man and most of his free kicks hit the wall :lol:

[bobby moore lower]

i wouldn't think so either,he has to learn to put a ball in with pace,he floats it in every time giving the defender plenty of time to make a challenge.

[SirStoneyOfBow]

Did I read somewhere yesterday that Noble had created the most goalscoring chances of anyone in the league from set pieces?

That sounds really hard to believe Fionn, but I do believe contributed to a few this season from his corners.
As for his free-kicks.... god help us.
I think Noble will come back a much better player, maybe perhaps with the realisation that with the likes of Parker, Behrami, Hines, Diamanti, Jimenez, Kovac, Stanislas etc all likely to start over him that he is fallable.

[jastons]

I thought Noble played well today, aside from Parker (and Franco?) I thought he was our best player

[Memorial Ground]

He was very good today, I was surprised.

[party iron]

I thought Noble played well today, aside from Parker (and Franco?) I thought he was our best player

I thought Noble, Parker and Kovac all played well against a very good Chelsea midfield

[prophet:marginal]

Can give himself a pat on the back after today's performance (along with a fair few others).

[Stumpy]

cant be arsed to read every post on here about mark cos i assume they are all negative,i mean the kid is now 22 cut him in half and he bleeds claret and blue,i did read the post that started this and it said if we get between 5 and 8 million for him we should sell,well f*** me he must be dog **** then,nobes is a very good player who needs to be loved not slagged off he is our most expereinced player for fick sake,he aint steven gerard yet but he could be he loves west ham and deservers loads more support than some of you want to give him get off his case and get behind him,superb game today mark made me proud :raver:

[worboyes]

after watching so much home grown talent waltz out the door at west ham, listening to Joe Cole say he suported Chelsea as a boy, Frank Lampard say he wants to score the Goal to get us relegated etc etc. i find it shocking that people are not behind Noble what is it with us as a fan base? we expect so much loyalty yet rarely give it back, our production of young talent saved us from administration last time we went down.
its clear the new crop still need a bit of time but Noble has been a big figure at west ham over the last few seasons, perhaps not as gifted as collision but for f*** sake give him time. players develop at diffrent rates, look at the player fat frank has become. Noble is clearly talented he was under 21 capt

[SirStoneyOfBow]

I cannot argue with his effort and performance yesterday - he was pretty good.
My only concern with the likes of him, Parker, Collison and Kovac in the midfield is how narrow and compact we are at times.
It might work against Chelsea, but we may have problems against teams with width.

[kthammer]

Noble was our best passer yesterday - especially in the first half - always looking for angled through balls behind their full backs etc
I think the use of Kovac is that he allows Noble and Scotty to be a bit more flexible. Mark needs to bit of discipline in his play in terms of not diving into tackles and improving his shooting and then he will mature into an outstanding midfielder - perhaps not so different to Danny Murphy.

[Countryboy]

after watching so much home grown talent waltz out the door at west ham, listening to Joe Cole say he suported Chelsea as a boy, Frank Lampard say he wants to score the Goal to get us relegated etc etc. i find it shocking that people are not behind Noble what is it with us as a fan base? we expect so much loyalty yet rarely give it back, our production of young talent saved us from administration last time we went down.
its clear the new crop still need a bit of time but Noble has been a big figure at west ham over the last few seasons, perhaps not as gifted as collision but for f*** sake give him time. players develop at diffrent rates, look at the player fat frank has become. Noble is clearly talented he was under 21 capt

There, in a nutshell, is the problem with a lot of WHU fans ... And it partly explains, IMO, why so many of our players want to get the hell out and then play so much better somewhere else

[JBs Caravan]

In the first half yesterday,had his best performance so far this season
snapping into tackles,and working hard
Sadly in the second half,went back into his bad habit,of not wanting to roll his sleeves up
and work for the team,both him and Diamanti,were bickering,who was covering in front of
Illunga,and yep whoever made the comment of being busted,by a side with natural width
Yes it will happen,so on Boxing Day,GFZ and Clarky better find a plan to deal with the
Flying Algerian and Co !!!!

[derek zoolander]

He played well, some important tackles & created some good chances. More like the old noble.

[The Sherriff]

my favourite player apart from Scotty.

he should hold cult status with us because of who is he and what he did in helping us avoid relegation.

he's one of our own

[Tel The Hammer]

He played well, some important tackles & created some good chances. More like the old noble.

Agreed.

I was pleased to see Noble actually playing like a Premier League standard footballer yesterday.

He usually puts about 2-5 decent performances in each season lately, so let's hope he can maintain a steady run of form.

Our midfield looked much more like a unit yesterday with Noble finally pulling his weight.