WHZ View: Mark Noble can roll back the years in West Ham v Arsenal clash
Mark Noble announced earlier this week that he is calling time on his West Ham career at the end of the season but there are 10 cup finals left before that.
The Irons stalwart has been a fantastic servant to the club after coming through the youth ranks before making his senior debut in 2004.
His talismanic leadership will be missed but he can still have a huge impact on our fortunes before he calls it quits.
That starts with Sunday against Arsenal, a club he actually spent time at in his youthful years before he made the move to his boyhood club in 2000.
Noble started against Manchester United in our 1-0 defeat last weekend and had a pretty poor hour on the pitch before making way for Manuel Lanzini but we think this clash against Arsenal is the perfect chance for him to bounce back.
That is because of their timid style of play.
At 33-years-old Noble struggles to get around the pitch with the same tenacity as old and can be prone to being pressured on the ball with his lack of mobility, as seen below v Manchester United.
Here Declan Rice plays the ball around the corner into the feet of his captain who has a red shirt to his left, Bruno Fernandes.
The Portuguese maestro hurriedly makes an attempt to retrieve the ball, probably realising who is about to be in possession.
Noble attempts to play it to Vladimir Coufal but his attempts are obvious and he is too slow to execute.
Fernandes pinches the ball off him and Noble is rendered useless in this phase of play as the Red Devils set about on a dangerous attack.
But that should not be as much of a problem against Arsenal.
According to fb.ref Arsenal are bottom of the Premier League rankings for pressures this season with 3329, 95 less than the next-ranked side Burnley.
Most importantly in the case of Noble are their figures in the middle-third of the pitch – once again they are bottom with 1385.
Furthermore they are rock-bottom for tackles and interceptions combined with just 597, well behind next-placed Liverpool [643].
Take a look at these examples from their previous Premier League clash v Tottenham Hotspur.
The image below shows Spurs defender Toby Alderweireld in oceans of space on the halfway line.
It shows just how deep Arsenal drop when they are not in possession.
These next two images show Spurs’ Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg with the freedom of the Emirates Stadium to look up and pick a pass.
The curious things with these three images are that they are all when Arsenal were behind or level.
Clearly they do not chase games as evidenced by these examples and the pressure stats.
This means West Ham may have to be more patient on the ball and look to thread balls through the midfield.
With more space and time on the ball this is a game that could really suit Noble’s strengths and this could free up Tomas Soucek to drive forward and offer an aerial option next to Michail Antonio.
If ever Noble was going start another game for us before he departs, this is the game to throw him in.
In other West Ham news, are teams figuring out Tomas Soucek?