After his team’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Juventus today, West Ham United skipper Mark Noble spoke to Calciomercato.com after the game. The 29-year-old England international explained that; “These games are what they are, they’re normally quite slow-paced with players trying to look after themselves ahead of the new season. We’ve got a tough start at Chelsea next week so the players obviously don’t want to go crazy”. He continued; “We had a tough game here on Thursday night and came out with a great result and today was all about enjoying the occasion and playing in the new stadium and I think it was a good day for everyone”.  

I put it to him that the heat must have played a part in the pace of the contest to which he replied; “It was incredibly hot out there, really, really warm but that’s what you have to deal with at the start of the season. Were disappointed we couldn’t have got a late equaliser and took it to penalties to give the crowd some more entertainment “.
 

I asked him what he thought about this star-studded Juventus team, Noble explained jokingly that; “I think they’re probably going to win the league again”, before adding that; “I think they’re one of the best teams in Europe at the moment and with players like (Paulo) Dybala and (Gonzalo (Higuain) who are tremendous talents, I’ll be following them closely this season”.  

Finally, I asked him if his hometown club could turn their new home into an intimidating arena like their former Boleyn Ground, Noble again; “I hope so I really do. We hope the fans will get behind us and it’s our job as well as theirs to make this a difficult place for visiting teams”.


Steve Mitchell @barafundler