Mark Noble lifts the lid on dressing room dust-ups at West Ham as he discusses player power

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Mark Noble has given a rare insight into the West Ham United dressing room.

The Hammers skipper is the club’s longest serving player and seen it all during his time at the club.

From European nights to relegation fights, the homegrown Hammer has been there done that, got the t-shirt.

But Noble was the first to admit he had never quite seen anything like the events which unfolded during the Carabao Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City last weekend.

Like nothing we’ve seen before

Blues goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga resisted Maurizio Sarri’s attempt to substitute him late in extra time, which left his manager seething on the touchline.

Kepa had twice been treated for cramp and, with the game at 0-0, Sarri was preparing to bring on reserve keeper Willy Caballero in his place before a penalty shootout.

But after some furious finger-wagging and screams of “No, I’m ok,” Sarri was forced to give in.

Referee Jonathan Moss ran over to confirm whether Kepa was going off or not. And Sarri, begrudgingly, backed down and then stormed off down the tunnel before quickly returning, leaving Caballero a bemused spectator.

Noble lifts lid on dressing room interventions

The incident has prompted debate and comment across the football sphere.

And it got Noble talking about player power in his latest column in the Evening Standard.

The midfielder has never seen something like that before. But he revealed he has had to intervene between teammates and managers at West Ham over the years.

‘Shut up’

“This sort of incident, happily, is very rare,” Noble wrote in the Evening Standard.

“There have been times in changing rooms when I’ve had to tell a player to shut up because of the way he’s been talking to the manager, but that hasn’t happened often.

“People talk about powerful players but the manager should still hold the balance of power.

I’ve always thought that if I become a manager one day, I’d rather lose my job and stick to my beliefs than give in to player power. If any player — no matter if he is our best player — is not working for the team or training properly, then he would not play in my team.”

Ironically Noble was put forward as the perfect signing for Sarri by a West Ham fan this week, read full story here.