Let’s just start by saying that it is no easy task for any Premier League side to go away to Bramall Lane and get a result. The blades have got a mix of players who can win a physical battle and can turn on the style, and losing to Chris Wilder’s side is nothing to be ashamed of.
That was, of course, what happened when West Ham went away to Sheffield, they fell to a 1-0 loss on Friday evening, and the headlines will be dominated by the fact that they could, and probably should, have taken a point home after Robert Snodgrass’ late goal was VAR’d out.
We’re not here to talk about VAR or Robert Snodgrass, though. We’re here to talk about Mr West Ham, Mark Noble. The 32-year-old was in the starting lineup when the Hammers travelled to Bramall Lane and whilst he has so often been the man that the Irons look to when they need inspiration, on Friday night he dropped a stinker.
After being named as the WhoScored man of the match when the Irons beat Bournemouth 4-0 in their last Premier League clash with a 9.16 rating, for his part in this one he could only muster an embarrassing 6.15 for this one and hardly did anything to impress.
When looking at the veteran midfielders stats for the game it hardly paints a good picture of his display. Across his 90 minutes, he gave the ball away once, took two poor touches and failed to register a single key pass, dribble or shot during his side’s 1-0 loss (WhoScored).
Should Mark Noble start on Saturday?
Yes
No
After that, it’s hard to argue the point that Noble deserves to start in his side’s next game against Everton, and it could be a good idea to use the more mobile and creative Robert Snodgrass in a pivot next to Declan Rice to use the Scottish midfielder’s passing as a way to create chances from deep.
