It is as Mark Noble reaches the second dozen on his roll call of fellow leaders in the dressing room that it becomes blindingly apparent that there might be something special about this group.
“I could keep going mate because it’s such a good dressing room,” he tells CBS Sports having just sung the praises of what may well have been every single player in David Moyes’ squad. He genuinely could. From the longstanding presence of Angelo Ogbonna to the “constant banter” that emanates from the goalkeepers’ union, there does not seem to be a single player at West Ham United who their captain does not regard with the utmost affection.
“In the good times and the bad you have to try to build a strong dressing room,” Noble says of his role as captain, one that he officially took in the summer of 2015, even if the man they call Mr. West Ham has been a leader in east London for far longer than that. “At the end of the day, that sometimes wins you games when it’s tough and you’ve got to dig in and fight for each other.
“Obviously, we spend so much time with each other, coming into work every day and you’re having a laugh and it’s fun is a massive part of it. Premier League players are under so much pressure to perform, so going into your workplace and enjoying spending time with each other is so important.”
Such intangibles could go a long way in West Ham’s Europa League campaign, which begins Thursday on Paramount+ with what promises to be a challenging trip to Dinamo Zagreb. The last English side to play at the Maksimir Stadium crashed out of the competition, blowing a 2-0 lead to a Mislav Orsic masterclass.
This will be West Ham’s first foray into the Europa League in five years but the first time they have ever competed in the group stage of a continental competition, a fair reward for a remarkable 2020-21 season where they jumped 10 places up the Premier League table to sixth, beating London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal to secure progress to the competition on the last day of the season.
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Moyes’ first full campaign at the London Stadium after two fire-fighting spells in charge, the emergence and further development of Tomas Soucek, Michail Antonio and Declan Rice among many others saw the Hammers develop into one of the English game’s most effective counter-attacking forces. They have taken that form into the new season where they are one of only five unbeaten teams through four games, are the division’s joint third-highest scorers and have already put Leicester City to the sword in exhilarating fashion.
“It’s where we want to be as a club,” he says of the Hammers’ return to Europe. “The size of the football club that’s where we have to be, or try to be, playing in the Europa League. You’ve got the top four and then you’ve got the best of the rest and that was us last year. We’re fully looking forward to taking part in it.”
Drawn against Gent and Rapid Vienna, the Europa League promises to be a significant challenge for West Ham even if their squad was deepened and improved with the late additions of Nikola Vlasic, Kurt Zouma and Alex Kral. Equally for a team who last won European silverware in 1965 the rewards could be vast.
Noble does not lack for ambition in this competition. “Our aim is now, as soon as we got into the group stages, the aim is to win the group and then you go on and win game after game and then try to eventually win the tournament. Why not? If you’re going to go into any tournament you want to win.
“I’d say I’m dreaming about winning it instead of thinking. Anyone that enters the competition, you dream about winning it. It is actually just a game of football at a time and anything can happen.”
Certainly, it would provide for the most elegant of conclusions to Noble’s West Ham career. This season, his 18th with the club, will be his final one. He is already looking forward to the “incredibly proud” moment when he gets to lead his team out under the London Stadium lights — when the atmosphere is invariably at its best — perhaps against Rapid Vienna at the end of this month.
When he does indeed part ways with his boyhood club, the sorrow will be eased, at least to an extent, by the knowledge that his successor as West Ham captain could scarcely be better suited to the role. Rice came through the West Ham academy after leaving Chelsea’s to establish himself as a key cog first in Moyes’ side and then in the England team that reached the final of Euro 2020. With Noble predominantly featuring off the bench behind the man he calls his “little brother,” it is generally Rice who wears the armband for the Hammers in Premier League play.
“I take pride in how well he has done and what he has achieved in his short career,” Noble says. “I keep telling him he will have ups and downs, he has had a lot of highs lately but he’s such a fantastic player. The great thing about Dec, you probably don’t know how good he is and he’s a top kid. I say kid, he’s a man now.
“He’s a massive part of this football club, we were all gutted he didn’t come home with the England trophy. It would have been massive for him and his family, who are great people as well. It’s a pleasure for me to see how he has progressed. I still think he can get better.
“To see Declan come through the academy and on his first preseason trips, taking him under my wing as a player and a person, to see him grow the way he has is phenomenal. In my eyes there’s no better person to take on that armband than Dec. Even the way he did it last year when I wasn’t on the pitch, it was phenomenal. He’s a natural. The captaincy won’t affect him one little bit.”
That, though, is a matter for next season. Ahead of West Ham is a chance to compete in the business end of European competition that Noble knows can come around all too infrequently in this club’s history. He is determined to seize the moment.
