West Ham United find themselves in the Premier League top six after 12 games of the 2020-21 season, with the club’s supporters buoyed by the team’s positive start to the campaign.
Much of the credit for this promising period must go to Hammers manager David Moyes, who has switched formation a number of times and got buy-in from the first-team squad.
The West Ham coach has also got his team selections correct more often than not, with his sidelining of one Irons player improving the team and taking guts to facilitate.
Club captain Mark Noble is a Hammers fans favourite given he has been with the London outfit for his entire career and in previous campaigns the central midfielder has commanded a starting place in the side automatically.
With Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice both able to play in deeper roles, there has been some debate on Twitter among fans whether the Hammers legend should perhaps be benched for the final nine fixtures of the season:
Considering West Ham are in a relegation battle, it would be a massive surprise if manager David Moyes opted to keep Noble out of the starting eleven.
While the midfielder may not necessarily offer the dynamism that the likes of Soucek and Rice may provide, his experience and leadership skills will be crucial in the battle for points.
There may be an opportunity next season to gradually reduce his minutes but for this closing run of games, his presence will be needed on the pitch.