The West Ham United skipper has been blasted by many fans for a while now but he has looked far better in recent days.
In the midst of West Ham United’s struggles, plenty of the fans’ ire was aimed at Mark Noble, with the 30-year-old failing to play anywhere near his potential for months.
As a result, supporters were not bothered when the midfielder was dropped for recent matches against Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion. But in his return in the EFL Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur last week Noble was in inspired form.
While one great match is only the start, Noble again started for West Ham against Crystal Palace on Saturday and for the first half it looked like the Hammers were carrying on where they left off.
First-half goals from Javier Hernandez and Andre Ayew ensured West Ham went in 2-0 and looked to be building a head of steam at just the right time.
Unfortunately for their manager Slaven Bilic that was as good as it got, with Palace fighting back in the second half and snatching a vital point at the death.
West Ham’s capitulation meant Noble’s first-half influence was forgotten, but the midfielder continued to look far better than he has for months and he deserves his fair share of credit.
That is something West Ham fans have not been able to say often in relation to Noble and it will be interesting to see if he plays well in the Hammers’ upcoming match against Liverpool, when they will need all their players at the top of their game.
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