West Ham United and Mark Noble are intertwined. It’s almost impossible to imagine the veteran midfielder wearing any shirt other than the claret and blue of the Hammers, and even pictures of a young version of the Irons’ skipper in a Hull City kit during a loan spell look odd.
However, at the age of 32-years-old, Noble is showing signs that he’s going to be on the way out, and whilst he still has a few years left in him, it’s common knowledge that his legs are deserting him. With that being the case, questions will emerge regarding who will carry the captaincy when he’s gone.
On that topic, reports have recently surfaced via West Ham fan website Claret and Hugh that the man in line to receive the captain’s armband is someone who has only been at the club for a matter of months, a midfield man in the form of 25-year-old Tomas Soucek.
We find it hard to believe that Soucek would make a bad captain, on the contrary, he’s shown all of the qualities of a man who would thrive with the armband. But that’s not the point, the point is that Soucek is currently on-loan at West Ham and is yet to have his permanent move to the London Stadium secured, and he’s only made four appearances for the Hammers (Transfermarkt).
Frankly, installing a man who’s yet to rack up even 250 minutes for the club as the captain is ludicrous, and there will be droves of fans questioning the decision if it is made considering the likes of Declan Rice and Angelo Ogbonna, who stand out as the obvious two candidates to replace Noble as the skipper, would have been overlooked.
In time, Soucek could well be given the armband, and we understand that by the time Noble passes on the captaincy Soucek likely will have played a fair few more games, but to even be talking about giving someone with just four games to his name for the club the armband is ludicrous in our eyes.
