Mark Noble has revealed that being in control of his own West Ham exit was the key to his decision to retire at the end of the season.
After 18 seasons as a senior professional at West Ham, Noble is calling time on his playing career, a decision he made last season with the help of his family. The Hammers captain has been at West Ham since 2000 when he joined his local club after a short spell in the Arsenal academy.
Since then the midfielder has made 407 Premier League appearances for the Hammers and played more than 500 games in total for the club he supported as a boy. Speaking to Vibe with FIVE, Noble admitted football has changed in recent years and that he wanted to go out on his own terms.
"The game has moved on now, the game is physically strong and powerful," Noble said. "You see the boys now and a lot of them are freaks! I will be 35 in May and I have always said I want to go out when it is my decision, I don't want to be told by an agent or a club 'you are done, your legs have gone.'"
Noble has made four league appearances this season and 12 in total across all competitions and the captain has said it is the recovery time after matches that is the difference from his early career.
"I have watched on for the last year and played a few games but the recovery at 34 is different to when you are 21. If you have a bruise and a dead leg at 22 that has gone in two days but now you get a kick and it is still there three weeks later but that is just your age and what happens," he added.
Noble is enjoying West Ham challenging at the top end of the table in his final two years at the club after leading his team through many fights against the drop.
"I have been at West Ham for so long season after season and a lot of those were in relegations battles where you have to drag the boys with you every day, you can't feel sorry for yourself because it is non-stop," he said.
"I have been lucky that I have never had bad injuries so I have been there every day training with the boys and driving the session and I have been really lucky to have had some great pros at West Ham for the last ten years."
The club captain took over the role in 2015, succeeding Kevin Nolan, and Noble has given an insight into his leadership at the London Stadium.
"It does not have to be shouting and screaming, that is only when someone is taking liberties, the thing for me is if I am the captain of the club and I am setting the standards high," he said.
"How can a player turn around and say 'I'm not doing that' [if the captain does something]. Thank god I have played over 400 Premier League games for the club so if I am still doing it, like if I am not playing on a Saturday and the boys are running on the pitch after then I am not going to go 'I am not doing that', I am going to do it because then they can't moan.
"The boys who don't want to train on a Sunday because we have won 3-0 but have not come on and got the hump, if I am out there on the pitch running after the game then so should they be and that is how I have always tried to lead by example."
There are a minimum of 18 matches left during Noble's tenure at the club and it is bound to be an emotional occasion when on May 15 the Hammers take on Manchester City in Noble's final home appearance for his boyhood club.
