Said Benrahma ‘erratic’ in West Ham United defeat as fans turn on David Moyes
West Ham supporters “turned on” David Moyes as he took Said Benrahma off at the break of the 4-0 thrashing at Brighton, The Independent reports.
The Irons were awful against the Seagulls who didn’t even need Roberto De Zerbi in the dug-out to comprehensively outplay the sloppy visitors, and the 4-0 victory at the London Stadium over Nottingham Forest on 25 February now feels like a distant memory.
A poor opening 45-minutes saw West Ham go in 1-0 down at the break after Alexis Mac Allister scored from the spot, and Moyes’ reaction to replace Benrahma with Pablo Fornals only saw things get worse thereafter, and the travelling support made their anger known.
The Independent reported from the Amex: “The usually supportive away following were singing his name in the first half, but he faced chants of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ and ‘sacked in the morning’ in the second…
“Moyes brought off the erratic Said Benrahma at half-time, with the away fans immediately voicing their displeasure at the decision.”
End of the road?
Just when there were some tentative signs of recovery in 2023 Moyes’ side has produced a match which really should put everyone involved on notice.
It was not just the result, as Brighton are a decent side who have beaten plenty of teams this season, but the abject manner of the performance that has raised major doubts over the remainder of the campaign.
Nobody can dispute what Moyes had done prior to this season after returning to the club for a second spell, but to say the wheels have come off this year would be an understatement.
Ben Johnson standing in no-man’s land as Joel Veltman calmly chested the second goal in to end the game as a contest just after half-time summed up the proceedings.
Injuries and bad luck have played their part this season but there is no excuse for playing so badly on Saturday (4 March) from front to back.
Benrahma often seems to be a player who is the first to be sacrificed or consigned to the bench by Moyes, when the Scot will stick with the likes Tomas Soucek through thick and thin.
In previous seasons, with the club fighting at the other end of the league, odd personnel decisions from the manager could be overlooked, but having been handed plenty more options this season he has proven incapable of properly organising them.
The substitution was unlikely to be the difference between a win and a loss, but it did highlight how badly this manager is haemorrhaging support among his own fans.