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It’s been a talking point among the Claret & Blue Army for a couple of seasons now; when will Mark Noble be stepping aside to allow a younger player to take up a first-choice role in central midfield?
The Academy of Football product is 31 now and not many central midfielders make it into their 30s without taking up more of a squad position.
Noble is the skipper at London Stadium although that’s not the reason he’s still a regular, it’s more down to him losing very little of his ability, quality and stamina over the years.
It was thought that the arrival of Manuel Pellegrini, a manager that would perhaps prefer more dynamic options in the centre of the park, last summer would be the beginning of the end for Noble.
However, not only was he able to keep his place in the starting Xl when fit, the former England under-21 international was offered a contract extension during the 2018/2019 season.
But was there anything in that campaign to suggest that Noble will finally lose his place next campaign? Today we look at the statistics in order to answer that question.
As you can see from the above infographic containing stats from WhoScored, Noble impressively only missed seven league matches last term.
The 31-year-old, known for both his defensive and attacking capabilities, managed an eye-catching five goals and five assists during 2018/2019 enjoying playing with some new expensive attacking players and certainly flexing his so-called old muscles going forward.
The number 16 also weighed in with an average of 85.3% pass success playing mostly alongside Declan Rice in the centre of the pitch, precision as ever from the club captain.
One little bit of evidence that an aspect of Noble’s game is starting to fade ever so slightly can be found in his 0.7 key passes per game, suggesting that he’s not quite as creative as he used to be on a regular basis – he made 1.4 per appearance in the 2015/16 campaign, for example.
However, the boyhood Hammer comes roaring back with a superb average of 1.5 tackles per encounter, displaying that he hasn’t lost his bite in protecting the defence.
Overall, these figures tell us that Noble is far from ready to give up playing every weekend and that the Irons must wait to introduce a long-term partner for Rice, for the time being.