Ravel Morrison gave a special mention to two former West Ham United midfielders while reflecting on his time with the Premier League outfit this week.
One bonafide club legend in Mark Noble.
And another who, for various reasons, may share former Manchester United wonderkid Ravel Morrison’s understanding of how it feels to be so prodigiously hyped as a young man in one of the most high-pressure environments in English football.
Morrison admits that ‘stupid mistakes’ were to blame for why his West Ham United career fizzled out. But if Morrison is best remembered for that Tottenham solo goal in a famous 3-0 victory at White Hart Lane in 2013, Henri Lansbury also retains a special place in the heart of the Hammers fans long enough in the tooth to recall the start of the Sam Allardyce era.
Neither Morrison nor Lansbury left a legacy as lasting as former skipper Noble. But both showed flashes, glimpses of extraordinary technical qualities at a time when they were still seen as two of the brightest, most naturally talented English midfielders around.
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Speaking this week, Morrison admits that Noble stood out head and shoulders above most of the others at Upton Park. Lansbury, though, was one who took the now-Arabian Falcons playmaker by surprise.
“Probably Mark Noble. I think he should have got a chance with England, he was very good,” Morrison said on the Filthy Fellas podcast when asked to reflect on his finest Hammers teammates.
“He’s well-respected. Well-respected.
“[But] Henri Lansbury, obviously, when I first came to West Ham, I was there was well. I didn’t know many [of their] players. I didn’t really watch football! West Ham were in the Championship, so I didn’t really pay attention.
“But when I got there, [Lansbury was] wicked.”
While Morrison is these days representing a club based in the UAE second-tier, moving to the Middle East after spells with Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and Derby County, Lansbury brought an early end to his own footballing career aged just 33.
Swapping the football field for the gardening game, Lansbury is the co-owner of Grass Gains.
Talking of green shoots, West Ham will be hoping to breathe some life into their season post-Christmas, starting with Fulham’s visit to the London Stadium.
With Fulham, Brighton, Wolves and Nottingham Forest to come – three of those four matches on home soil – this feels like a make or break period for a side who would benefit immensely from a few prime-time Mark Noble displays in the centre of the park.
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How are you feeling ahead of West Ham v Fulham? How important is this fixture?
“Of course, we need to find some home form,” much-maligned centre-back Max Kilman tells the club’s official website. “That’s the most important, because if you’re at home, you can make it much more difficult for opponents and it’s a way to gain confidence and climb up the table.
“We need to really focus on this game and only this game and not think about the games coming up after.
“We’re aware where we are in the league, of course. I think everyone in the whole club knows that, but we don’t want to focus on others right now. We need to focus on ourselves because we can control what we can control, so I think that’s most important.
“We need to make sure we win the games and we win the next game coming up. That’s how we need to take it and whatever’s happening externally, it’s not down to us.”
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