Mark Noble: This is how West Ham can climb the Premier League table
By Guy Giles
West Ham captain Mark Noble has called on his team to improve their game management if they want to return to winning ways.
The Hammers were 2-0 up against Crystal Palace over the weekend but somehow squandered that lead as a penalty from Luka Milivojevic and a last-gasp equaliser from Wilfried Zaha rescued a point for the Eagles.
Zaha’s equaliser was a frustrating one for West Ham as Michail Antonio gave the ball away too easily before Palace broke and scored through Zaha.
Captain Noble told the West Ham website: “People talk about ‘managing the game’ and a lot of it is common sense. We need to be able to see the time out by slowing the play down and, in a way, get the opposition and their fans feeling anxious.
“I don’t think we have done that well enough this season.
“You can’t make mistakes like we made at Crystal Palace in the Premier League and expect to win matches, so we really need to learn how to hold onto a lead because we’re really shooting ourselves in the foot,” he said.
The draw against Palace has left the Hammers languishing in 16th in the Premier League, with only two wins and nine points from their first 10 outings.
They face Liverpool at Upton Park this Saturday as Noble and his teammates look to relieve the pressure mounting on manager Slaven Bilic.
“Liverpool at home is a big game – it always is.
“We’re at home, we’ll have the crowd behind us and we’ve got to roll our sleeves up, look forward to the game and do the basics right,” he said.
In other West Ham news, Slaven Bilic may be facing a defensive injury crisis for the visit of Liverpool.
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