Mark Noble reveals team meeting played a role in West Ham’s first win

West Ham United picked up their first three points of the season against Everton on Sunday and captain Mark Noble has pinned the victory down to an ‘honest’ team meeting the players had.

The Hammers began the new season in dire fashion, losing their opening four matches under the guidance of newly-appointed Manuel Pellegrini, but the east London club bounced back over the weekend, fending off the Toffees in a 3-1 win on Merseyside.

Newcomer Andriy Yarmolenko netted a brace, while last season’s ‘Hammer of the Year’ Marko Arnautovic secured all three points in the second half.

Club mainstay and skipper Noble has now revealed that the players were galvanised over the weekend because of an open-ended team meeting the club had during the week.

“The table looks a lot better after that one result, one three points. It looks a lot better than it did before,” Noble said (via the Telegraph).

“We spoke openly after the Wolves game with each other, we said some home truths. Me and Marko (Arnautovic) were in the thick of that in the changing room and sometimes that’s what you need.

“We’ve had two fantastic weeks of hard training but that game was about the result, not the performance. And when you get a performance like that as well, it gives you a lot of belief.”

The result ensured West Ham climbed out of the relegation zone and Pellegrini, in turn, became the first manager to win a Premier League match on his birthday since Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal beat Everton on 22 October 2017.

There was just one blemish on an otherwise perfect trip up north for the Hammers, with Lucas Perez appearing to refuse to warm-up during the match.

However, Pellegrini was quick to pour cold water on the allegation, stating: “Maybe it looks and you can think he refuses (to warm up).

“When Arnautovic was injured, I called him because he was making his warm-up, but when he was back sitting on the bench and Antonio was working I called him because he was ready.

“I don’t have any problem with the player. We didn’t want to delay too much the change so Antonio went on immediately and Lucas could not go on.”

Perez also released a statement strongly denying the claims, and the former Arsenal forward will now look to force his way into the starting XI after signing over the summer.

Next up for West Ham is Premier League leaders Chelsea on Sunday.

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