Mark Noble leaps to the defence of Manuel Pellegrini’s inconsistent debut season with West Ham

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West Ham United captain Mark Noble has moved to try and explain Manuel Pellegrini’s inconsistent debut season.

Much was expected of the Hammers when the title-winning Chilean was appointed last summer.

Those expectations rose further still when he was backed with £100 million of new players.

But while West Ham have enjoyed an infinitely more comfortable season, it has been tediously unspectacular.

There have been highlights like wins over Manchester United, Everton and Arsenal.

A comfortable but unspectacular debut campaign

But the lows have been typical of West Ham with pathetic exits from both the Carabao and FA Cup angering supporters.

Just four victories in 2019 tells its own story about how the campaign has unravelled.

A big factor in that has of course been the club’s Premier League worst injury list.

What has stuck in the craw of Hammers fans most, though, is perhaps the team’s alarming inconsistency and rank bad attitude.

It was perfectly encapsulated in the club’s last three games.

Rank inconsistency

A season-worst performance in a dismal home defeat to Everton was followed by what has become a recurring theme, turning up for one half in the defeat to Chelsea.

Then came a superb display which deserved at least a draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford last time out.

West Ham seem to be able to turn it on against the top six. But the key to a successful season for a club like the Hammers is how they perform against the other 13.

The result? It has left more questions about the direction West Ham are heading under Pellegrini than answers.

But captain Mark Noble has leapt to his manager’s defence in an interview with the club’s official website.

Noble leaps to Pellegrini’s defence

Noble told whufc.com that inconsistency is a by-product of the fiercely competitive modern day Premier League.

“In this league you can lose, win and draw, but if you lose like you did on Saturday you take more positives out of it,” Noble told whufc.com.

“I think that’s just the Premier League now in all honesty. You just don’t know what you’re going to get.

“Leicester earlier in the season beat Man City and Chelsea and then lost to Cardiff 3-0. That is the Premier League and that’s why this league is the hardest league in the world because you actually really don’t know what’s going to happen.”