West Ham captain Mark Noble: Declan Rice won’t let critics worry him, he knows how good he is

Noble confident Rice will take criticism in his stride.
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Mark Noble16 September 2019

This international break has been different to most, because we’ve had to wait longer until playing at Aston Villa tonight.

We’re playing well, so you want the next match to come as quickly as possible. Hopefully we can maintain the momentum from our most recent match, the 2-0 win over another ­promoted team, Norwich.

We’ve trained hard, as we always do during international breaks, but we’ve also had a few days off, which have been welcome. I took the opportunity to go to Majorca with my wife, Carly, and the kids for three nights and then went up to Norwich last weekend to watch my son Lenny play.

I also watched on TV my team-mate Declan Rice win his fifth England cap last Tuesday, against Kosovo. He has established himself in Gareth Southgate’s team remarkably quickly and I thought he did well in both games, although he came in for some criticism after giving the ball away, leading to Kosovo’s second goal.

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As a fellow professional, I can say with absolute certainty that it will not be the only time he gives the ball away. We’ve all done it and we all will again. It goes with the territory, especially in midfield, where you can have 30 more touches than other players. Sometimes you get away with it, sometimes you don’t.

When I watched that mistake, I thought, “Okay, will he go again, will he want the ball straight away?’ He did. It didn’t affect him at all. He could have gone another way. He could have hidden and not wanted the ball for a time, or he could have gone over-keen and tried and make up for his error. When something like that happens you need to just bin it and carry on, which he did.

The criticism won’t distract him, I am sure of that. We know how good a player he is, he knows how good he is — and so does Gareth Southgate. He will have ups and downs. The last 18 months has been constant ups, but football isn’t like that forever.

Cullen impressed for Mick McCarthy's side during the international break.
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I was so pleased, as well, that Josh Cullen, who is on loan at Charlton from West Ham, was man-of-the-match for the Republic of Ireland against Bulgaria.

Josh has something you can’t coach. He has that desire every day to improve. He’s a talented boy with a big heart and will enjoy a good career in football.

In Pictures | West Ham vs Norwich | 31/08/2019

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It just shows you that if you’re prepared to back yourself and go out on loan, rather than staying in the comfort zone, you can do it. I remember going out on loan, first to Hull for a month, which I didn’t enjoy that much, and then to Ipswich, which I loved. I came back from there after three months and I thought, “I’m ready now” — and the rest, as they say, is history.

Talking of international recognition, it was pointed out to me this week that only three players, Sylvain Distin, Kevin Nolan and Chris Perry, have played more Premier League matches than me and not been capped.

I don’t quite know what to make of that, except to say that I grew up around the corner from Upton Park as a fan of the club. Every player’s pinnacle is to play for their country but, as a kid, my dream was to play for West Ham. It was never a dream to play for England.

Yes, there is a regret that I never won a full cap, particularly since I played 20 times for the Under 21s and I do feel like there were times when I was more than good enough to be picked for the senior team. There have been times when it has affected me and I have thought, “How have I not been picked?’ It’s too late now anyway. Watching Declan play is enough for me — and I have had plenty of other highlights in my career.

One of those was the ovation the fans gave me when I came off in the second half against Norwich. It was extra ­special and perhaps an accumulation of a few factors: it was 15 years since my debut; I had come back into the team after injury and we had won two on the bounce. That ovation was memorable. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up — fantastic.

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