Mark Noble discusses Tuesday's victory at AFC Bournemouth
Mark Noble was an extremely proud West Ham United captain after leading the Londoners to a superb come-from-behind 3-1 victory at AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday.
The Hammers rose to fifth in the Barclays Premier League table after two goals from Enner Valencia and a sublime Dimitri Payet free-kick wrested the points away from Bournemouth.
Noble said hard work is central to the Hammers success and just wants the feelgood factor to continue.
What was the key to the comeback against Bournemouth?
MN: “A lot of hard work went into that performance over Bournemouth. We have had a lot of games recently and it has been asking a lot of the players. We are obviously grateful to have Dimi and Enner back.
“We probably should not have been 1-0 down in the first half and had some good chances.
“But it shows the spirit we have got in this team to come back and win the game. I have said it before many times that we have got an unbelievable spirit.
“The back four was fantastic once again and I thought in the second half we showed what a good team we are.
The Hammers rose to fifth in the Barclays Premier League table after two goals from Enner Valencia and a sublime Dimitri Payet free-kick wrested the points away from Bournemouth.
Noble said hard work is central to the Hammers success and just wants the feelgood factor to continue.
What was the key to the comeback against Bournemouth?
MN: “A lot of hard work went into that performance over Bournemouth. We have had a lot of games recently and it has been asking a lot of the players. We are obviously grateful to have Dimi and Enner back.
“We probably should not have been 1-0 down in the first half and had some good chances.
“But it shows the spirit we have got in this team to come back and win the game. I have said it before many times that we have got an unbelievable spirit.
“The back four was fantastic once again and I thought in the second half we showed what a good team we are.
Dimi obviously had a huge impact – how important is he?
MN: “What more can be said about Dimitri Payet. At the end of the day we paid £10m for him and would we pay double for him now - the answer is probably yes.
“He has got so much ability and he works so hard for the team. A lot of people don't see that.
“They see his skills and the amazing goals he scores. But the hard work he puts in for the team, he has fitted in fantastically well.
“It is my job to bed players in like that – the foreign players who don't speak a lot of English and have new surroundings. But he has bedded in pretty well.”
You played with Carlos Tevez here – is the impact he is having similar to his?
MN: “I think Carlos is more of a striker, but the way the fans think of him, he is the same. West Ham fans love a hero – Paolo Di Canio, Carlos Tevez and now I think it is Dimitri Payet!”
It was a night of great free-kicks and Enner’s was special as well…
MN: “It is a great piece of skill from Dimi to set up the second goal but the first finish is fantastic. It is easy to sky that over the bar, but we see Enner score goals like that all the time in training. It was a special one against Bournemouth.”
How far can this team go?
MN: “We are going to keep working hard, keep putting points on the board. We are over the moon that no-one is talking about us and talking about the other teams. Hopefully, we are going to keep creeping up table.”
How big a blow was Andy going off?
MN: “The only downside to the win over Bournemouth was the injury picked up by Andy Carroll. He has been great for us over the last month and scored some very important goals.
“It is a big loss but I thought Jelavic came on and worked so hard and put in a real shift for the team. That is what has got us through all the injury problems.”
Newcastle next, you must be viewing that as another opportunity to keep the run going?
MN: “We have another away game on Saturday against Newcastle and it is another long trip for us.
“We will get back and recover and we won't need a lot of training because of all the games we have played over the Christmas period.
“I said it in my programme notes last week that to go unbeaten through that period and now win four on the bounce with the quality players we have lost, it shows the special team spirit and quality that we have got."
MN: “What more can be said about Dimitri Payet. At the end of the day we paid £10m for him and would we pay double for him now - the answer is probably yes.
“He has got so much ability and he works so hard for the team. A lot of people don't see that.
“They see his skills and the amazing goals he scores. But the hard work he puts in for the team, he has fitted in fantastically well.
“It is my job to bed players in like that – the foreign players who don't speak a lot of English and have new surroundings. But he has bedded in pretty well.”
You played with Carlos Tevez here – is the impact he is having similar to his?
MN: “I think Carlos is more of a striker, but the way the fans think of him, he is the same. West Ham fans love a hero – Paolo Di Canio, Carlos Tevez and now I think it is Dimitri Payet!”
It was a night of great free-kicks and Enner’s was special as well…
MN: “It is a great piece of skill from Dimi to set up the second goal but the first finish is fantastic. It is easy to sky that over the bar, but we see Enner score goals like that all the time in training. It was a special one against Bournemouth.”
How far can this team go?
MN: “We are going to keep working hard, keep putting points on the board. We are over the moon that no-one is talking about us and talking about the other teams. Hopefully, we are going to keep creeping up table.”
How big a blow was Andy going off?
MN: “The only downside to the win over Bournemouth was the injury picked up by Andy Carroll. He has been great for us over the last month and scored some very important goals.
“It is a big loss but I thought Jelavic came on and worked so hard and put in a real shift for the team. That is what has got us through all the injury problems.”
Newcastle next, you must be viewing that as another opportunity to keep the run going?
MN: “We have another away game on Saturday against Newcastle and it is another long trip for us.
“We will get back and recover and we won't need a lot of training because of all the games we have played over the Christmas period.
“I said it in my programme notes last week that to go unbeaten through that period and now win four on the bounce with the quality players we have lost, it shows the special team spirit and quality that we have got."