West Ham United midfielder Mark Noble has slammed the team for their recent display against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League, branding it was “nowhere near good enough.”
The Hammers’ mainstay has laid into the team after they conceded a stoppage time goal to ensure Wolves of the win in their recent clash, which subjected them to their fourth straight defeat.
He has called on all the players to step up ahead of their next game with Everton, whilst also stressing that they now need to get their heads down and work hard to earn positive results.
However, he completely dismissed lack of fitness as the answer their poor performance, adding that it is the ability to keep going when luck is not on their side.
“The result and the performance that day were nowhere near good enough. For them to score in the last minute — and the way they scored — was schoolboy football. But if we feel sorry for ourselves there is no point being here,” he wrote in his column for the Evening Standard.
“Other players now need to step up, those who have been here for some time and those who arrived last summer. The only way forward is to work hard, and dig in for each other. We need to grind out a result — 1-0 will do — starting at Everton on Sunday.
“I honestly don’t think it’s a fitness problem. Sometimes it can be a question of will, to keep on grafting when it’s not going so well.”
OPINION
Noble is right to lay into West Ham following their outing against Wolves – it was indeed nowhere near good enough. Too many silly mistakes led to their fourth defeat in a row, and they will only be subjected to their fifth if they make the same errors against Everton this weekend. However, Noble is correct to point out that everybody needs to step up now. There is no point in relying on one player to deliver the goods – in this case, striker Marko Arnautovic, who has scored their only goals – all of them need to stick together and play as a team, something which they have not showed they can do so far. They have been playing as individuals, and this will only get you so far in the Premier League. When players are only doing it for themselves, then this will take a huge toll on their results. West Ham need to change their attitude from here on out – otherwise they do not stand any chance whatsoever in their next fixtures.