David Moyes has praised Said Benrahma whilst admitting that the winger just hasn’t fulfilled his potential at West Ham United.
The Hammers were in action on Monday night as they hosted Gary O’Neil’s Bournemouth side.
Handballs were the story of the game as West Ham benefited from Thilo Kehrer appearing to handle the ball in the build-up to Kurt Zouma’s opener, with VAR allowing the goal to stand.
West Ham then grabbed a late penalty through a handball with Said Benrahma stepping up to score from the spot.
It wasn’t always pretty or refined, but West Ham got the win – with a couple of slices of luck – and will hope to build from here.
David Moyes has praised Said Benrahma
Benrahma sealed the win and in truth, this was a fairly good night for the Algerian.
Benrahma notched a key pass and five successful dribbles, the latter of which was an improvement on his last four games combined.
The 27-year-old looked confident and willing to run at defenders before stepping up from the spot late in the day.
West Ham fans may still feel that there is more to be unlocked when it comes to Benrahma.
Signed in a £30million package from Brentford in the 2020-21 season – £5million for a loan and £25million for the permanent fee – Benrahma was expected to be a real game-changer for West Ham.
Last season was strong; eight goals and six assists in 32 Premier League games showed Benrahma’s quality, but it’s been a slower start to this season.
Last night was Benrahma’s first league goal of the campaign and he has only picked up one assist in 10 outings.
David Moyes spoke about Benrahma after the final whistle, suggesting that the honest verdict is that Benrahma has not shown enough in his time at West Ham.
The Scot told West Ham’s official website that he loves Benrahma’s dribbling and his ability to make things happen, offering praise to the winger whilst demanding more consistency in the final third.
“Let’s be fair and honest, Saïd has not shown us enough of what he can do, but tonight he did, and I’m really pleased,” said Moyes. “Last year he got six or seven goals and six or seven assists, but his game has to be more consistent. I keep telling him, and I’m happy to say it here: he needs to have more consistency.”
“But he’s a dribbler. He can make things happen. He commits people, which is something we don’t have, and I really like it, but what I want from is a good cross, I want a good pass or good finish. He has to hit the target more often because he creates himself opportunities, but I thought tonight he played well,” he added.
Moyes will hope that this brutal honesty about Benrahma’s two years at West Ham will help produce that consistency, but only time will tell.
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