Mark Noble
West Ham skipper Mark Noble has once again said that recruitment will be vital to the Hammers building on their success of last season. Speaking in June after West Ham had confirmed David Moyes’ new three-year deal, Noble said that along with signing the manager up for the long-term, recruitment was key. This is particularly the case this summer, according to Noble, due to the extra fixtures the Hammers face after securing a Europa League spot for the upcoming season.
Mark Noble said: “With Europe, the travelling and the Premier League, it’s going to be tough but he will be sitting down with his staff to prepare us for next season, including looking to bring in more right types of players to keep improving the squad.”
Mark Noble said: “I’m proud of how all the boys have done at the Euros, and the success of the likes of Vlad [Coufal] and Tom [Soucek] shows the direction our recruitment has gone in. It’s a massive reason why we’ve done so well last year. We looked at players, even going back a bit further with Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals, who do an incredible job for the team. Then, there’s Saïd with a bit of magic, and then obviously you got the two Czech boys who have come in and been solid good teammates and great for the club. They’re very similar to someone like Craig Dawson, who comes in, knows his job, and does it very well and scored some fantastic goals and kept some great clean sheets for us last year. If we can add a little bit more of that for next season then I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine.”
West Ham confirmed last week that alongside Moyes the backroom staff had all signed new long-term deals with the club and two former employees, coach Billy McKinlay and fitness and sports science expert Nick Davies, were returning to the club. The Hammers also announced that they were close to appointing a new head of recruitment and Noble has stressed the significance of this position.
Mark Noble said: “We’ll be having a new head of recruitment joining soon too, and I think it is very important because you need to pluck players from everywhere now – I think as you’ve seen at the Euros, every game is a tough game and so many of these teams and nations have got top, top players. We look forward to bringing him in. I’m sure the gaffer is excited about it. And I’m pretty sure he’s really looking forward to working with us because it’s such a big club, a fantastic club that hopefully can move forward.”
