Mark Noble says Manuel Pellegrini wants to instil a winning mentality at West Ham United.
The captain, who is starting work under his eighth permanent manager since breaking into the first-team squad in 2004, believes the Chilean has all the attributes to improve the Hammers’ fortunes for the better.
Citing Pellegrini’s attention to detail and the ‘marginal gains’ mentality made famous by the Team Sky cycling team and, more recently, the England national football team, Noble is optimistic about the future.
“From what we’ve seen so far, the preparation and the way that the manager wants things done, and from what I’ve gathered from the small conversations I’ve had with him, he wants to change the mentality of this football club and improve on the little things to make the big things stand out,” he told whufc.com.
“He said that to me two or three times so to me, who has been here so many years and seen the Club in highs and lows, that is the sort of stuff you want to be hearing. He wants to change the mentality and bring a winning mentality to this football club.
“We know we’re going to lose games, everyone does, but the fact we’re going into games with a winning mentality means a lot.”
Noble has worked under seasoned Premier League managers like Alan Pardew, Alan Curbishley, Sam Allardyce and David Moyes and international stars like Gianfranco Zola and Slaven Bilic, but Pellegrini is the first West Ham boss to have previously won the Premier League, having done so with Manchester City in 2014.
“Not only that, but you have to think that he managed Real Madrid and managed Manchester City and the pressures that come with those clubs and he has seen the way those clubs work and the small finer details that make those clubs so successful and he wants to bring those things to this football club,” Noble observed. “We should embrace it.
“What I would say is that I’m hoping the fans get fully behind him because I’m hoping this season can be really good.
“You get that with new managers anyway, but with a manager who has done as much as our manager, it’s quite exciting.
“As I said, when you’ve had the experience of coaching and managing the best players in the world at City and at Real Madrid, you know what to expect and for me, at this Club, because of the potential of this Club, we needed to get a manager with that much experience in the game.
“The Premier League is a tough, tough league and, as I said, he has managed some of the top teams and West Ham will be a different kettle of fish at times because of the demands on the way we play and how we go about things.
“I am excited and I’m hoping that he does bring that winning mentality and changes small things that make a massive difference.”