David Moyes delivered his verdict on Said Benrahma after West Ham beat Aston Villa 2-1 at the London Stadium yesterday afternoon.
The 26-year-old has been the target of heavy criticism over the past couple of months from some sections of the Hammers fanbase and Moyes himself.
Read also: ‘Beyond me’: Gary Lineker takes to Twitter in reaction to West Ham win vs Aston Villa
Benrahma made a huge difference for West Ham against Aston Villa yesterday though and in doing so, surely made a very big statement to Moyes.
The Algeria international made two assists for Andriy Yarmolenko and Pablo Fornals during our win over Villa.
The ball that he laid on for Pablo to score against Villa was especially impressive. Benrahma seems to offer so much more than Nikola Vlasic when he plays.
Sure, he loses the ball sometimes but that’s what happens when you’re the player who is expected to make things happen.
David Moyes delivers Said Benrahma verdict after West Ham win over Aston Villa
The Scot has never been overly complementary about Benny since he moved to the London Stadium from Brentford in October 2020.
Moyes spoke to reporters yesterday after the match against Villa and still found it hard to praise Benrahma too much, as quoted by Football.London:
“That is what he has to do isn’t it? He was better today, but you saw a lot of really good and a lot of really poor so what we are trying to get is the good more regular. But if he keeps getting assists and he played much better today than he has done, more of a team player today in making the goals so I was pleased with him today.”
In a way, Moyes is right. Benrahma does need to be a lot more consistent.
But surely the Scot has a big role to play in that in the way in which he speaks about him in the press.
Benrahma seems like a player who thrives on confidence to us and he needs to be told just how good he is.
Perhaps Moyes has a different view on that though.
Benrahma certainly wasn’t at his best for West Ham against Aston Villa yesterday but he chalked up two assists. And that’s why we paid the big bucks for him.
If Said can rack up another few assists and goals between now and the end of the season, the Hammers will have a great chance of finishing inside the top six once again.
The 26-year-old has bagged eight goals and six assists this season (Transfermarkt). And if he can get those numbers closer to 10 and 10 by the time the season has finished then Moyes will surely be happy with his contributions during the 2021/22 campaign.
Read also
Joe Cole thinks one West Ham player was ‘absolutely brilliant’ against Sevilla
Report: West Ham now plotting ambitious move to sign PL and CL winning Englishman
Fornals names the West Ham player who has impressed him most since he joined in 2019
Report: West Ham told to pay £17m to bring winger back to the Premier League
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
