Mark Noble is an injury doubt for West Ham United this weekend.
West Ham United boss Manuel Pellegrini has ruled Mark Noble out of Saturday’s trip to Arsenal.
The Chilean manager told a press conference via West Ham’s official website on Thursday that the 31-year-old is struggling with a back injury ahead of the visit to North London.
Pellegrini said: “In this week, we just have the three players who will continue to be injured for a couple of months more and Mark Noble has a problem with his back that means he couldn’t work.”
West Ham go to Arsenal hoping to bounce back from the 2-1 home defeat by Bournemouth last weekend.
Noble was particularly poor on that afternoon and has since taken widespread criticism on social media after a viral video illustrated his half-hearted attempts to prevent the second goal.
And some Hammers fans on Twitter reckon that Pellegrini has actually just dropped him in and is using the back injury as a smokescreen to distract from the player’s form.
Here’s how they reacted:
Noble, who earns £50,000 per week in East London [Spotrac], is definitely an asset for United on his day, but when it’s not his day, as it wasn’t last weekend, then he can also be a massive liability.
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