Friday 10 March 2017 00:17, UK
Slaven Bilic has thrown his support behind captain Mark Noble after he was criticised for his performance in West Ham's defeat against Chelsea on Monday night.
Noble played an unwanted role in Chelsea's opener as it was his intercepted pass which led to Eden Hazard scoring after 25 minutes at the London Stadium.
Noble was substituted in the second half after Diego Costa had already doubled Chelsea's lead en route to securing a comfortable 2-1 victory for the runaway Premier League leaders.
Some West Ham fans have called for Bilic to drop Noble, 29, who has played more than 400 matches for the east London club.
But speaking ahead of his side's Premier League clash at Bournemouth on Saturday, Bilic said: "Mark is our captain, he is our skipper and he has done really well recently.
"He is the leader of the team. He keeps us balanced. Sometimes he has a great game and sometimes he doesn't, but overall he is playing good for us.
"He is also more than a player on the pitch. His presence means a lot for the others around him. He is very influential, especially when it is not going well. He motivates the players and he cheers them up.
"You can't just judge a player on one mistake. Otherwise Barcelona should have sold all their players after the first leg in Paris, and now they should give them all long-term contracts. Paris, the other way round. Sell them all."
