West Ham United winger Said Benrahma finally showing his true worth under David Moyes
One of the positives David Moyes can draw from the last game (1-1 v Southampton) is the cameo performance of winger Said Benrahma.
He added spark since he came on in the second half, and got the assist for the equaliser, though it was a fabulous goal from Declan Rice.
Benrahma has only made three starts this season for the Hammers in the Premier League, and Moyes will be thinking about whether to bring him on against Liverpool.
To be fair, Benrahma is an enigma.
The Algerian can produce moments of brilliance, but it is his lack of consistency that has been highlighted by Moyes time and again.
He needs to show that quality on a regular basis and that is where he has underperformed throughout his Hammers career.
At times, it feels like he does play well when he comes off the bench. He is more capable of leaving an impact after coming from the bench.
If that’s the case, it’s a huge problem for the club. Against the Saints, his introduction added more balance to the side and it was nearly a game-changing move.
Rice equalised within five minutes after he came on where Benrahma played a big role. He injected pace upfront and allowed Moyes to change the formation to 4-2-3-1 which usually gets the best out of this team.
Benrahma should be doing enough to grab his spot on the side. Maxwell Cornet has struggled with fitness, while Pablo Fornals has been really disappointing so far. Manuel Lanzini has impressed in midfield but is hugely ineffective on the wings.
While he hasn’t opened his scoring account so far, Moyes will be delighted to see that he is racking up 84.2% passing accuracy and managing 1.4 key passes per game, as per Whoscored.
It’s up to Benrahma to show Moyes that he can really be trusted. He should start against the Reds at Anfield on Wednesday.