David Moyes made his Said Benrahma stance clear very clear in the win over Wolves and his actions drop a big West Ham selection hint.
It’s never nice to see disharmony in the ranks. So watching the heated exchange between Moyes and Benrahma felt uncomfortable in that 1-1 draw against Newcastle last weekend.
Benrahma has been poor, especially when he starts. But Moyes has – since the day the Algerian arrived at the club – taken a particularly harsh approach to managing the maverick playmaker.
Benrahma’s frustration was understandable. And you don’t want players to be happy when substituted.
But West Ham’s meteoric rise under Moyes over the last two years has been built on that foundation of an excellent team spirit.
So the issue between the manager and Benrahma was an unwelcome side-story amid what was a disappointing run of form and results.
There was talk that the issue was sorted behind the scenes in the week building up to the win over Wolves yesterday.
David Moyes makes Said Benrahma stance clear and actions drop West Ham selection hint
But Moyes made his Benrahma stance perfectly clear with his team selection against Wolves and his actions drop a big West Ham selection hint too.
It was no great surprise that Benrahma did not start against Wolves after the beef with Moyes.
The fact that the Scot completely snubbed the Algerian when West Ham needed fresh legs at the end, bringing on Nikola Vlasic instead, spoke volumes, though.
Moyes recently admitted himself he is very much a disciplinarian as a manager. And his actions sent a clear message to Benrahma and his teammates about their conduct towards him.
But not using Benrahma at all against Wolves also suggests he will almost certainly start in the FA Cup clash at Southampton on Wednesday night.
West Ham had to work hard for the win over Wolves. Benrahma seemed to be the ideal sub to bring on late in the game to help try and turn Wolves towards their own goal.
The Hammers got the all important win so the manager was vindicated. That might have led to talk Benrahma will now be frozen out at West Ham.
But West Ham’s squad simply isn’t deep enough for that even if Moyes wanted to.
And the manager will not allow that beef to fester. Don’t be one bit surprised if Benrahma starts in the big FA Cup game on the coast.
It may be just the platform he needs to redeem himself in the manager’s eyes.