Mark Noble heaps praise on Andriy Yarmolenko and Arthur Masuaku | OneFootball

After the Hammers struggled mightily to begin last season, West Ham captain Mark Noble is extremely pleased with a number of performers as they have rushed out to a seventh-placed start through four games.

One of those players is Ukraine international Andriy Yarmolenko, who scored against Norwich to seal a 2-0 victory over the Canaries – his first goal since mid-September 2018 after fully recovering from a ruptured Achilles.

“I think everyone was really pleased for him. We’ve all seen what he’s been through in the last ten months.

“He started off really well for the Club and got a couple of goals, but then he got that injury. No matter what, even if you’re injured for two weeks, you don’t feel a part of it as you’re not out there training with the lads, and he has suffered.

“He’s had a whole summer to think about it and pre-season was hard for him to get up to speed, but I thought he looked really good, and for him to get his goal, the whole team was really pleased and buzzing that he managed to do that.”

Noble also heaped the praise on Arthur Masuaku, who looked impressive by making six tackles during West Ham’s 2-0 win over Norwich – becoming the first team to prevent Teemu Pukki from scoring so fan this season.

“I thought he was brilliant and, to be honest, I thought the whole back four was brilliant to keep Pukki quiet because he’s such a good goalscorer.

“I thought the aggression we played with, the power and pace and control, was brilliant. For me, that’s the best we’ve played for a long time.”

West Ham will look to improve on their seven-point haul to start the season when they take on Aston Villa on Monday Night Football.