David Moyes has given Said Benrahma a mixed review despite the Algerian grabbing a brace of assists in West Ham's 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon. Benrahma started the game off with intent having two shots inside the opening ten minutes and looking West Ham's most lively player.
However, as the half wore on his influence waned and instead of regularly beating his opposite number as he had done at the start he increasingly ran into his opponents and gave away possession cheaply. Moyes has called for more consistency and end product from Benrahma and has at times been satisfied with the mercurial attacker's output but on Sunday afternoon he was left in two moods over the No.22's display.
Post-match Moyes was asked if he was satisfied with the 26-year-old's return of two assists against Villa: "That is what he has to do isn't it?" the manager retorted, before adding, "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.
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"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."
Since returning from African Cup of Nations duty with Algeria Benrahma has found himself on the periphery of the Hammers team, coming off the bench three times, starting three, and being an unused substitute on one occasion. His two assists on Sunday were his first goal contributions since international duty and Moyes will be hopeful he can kick on from there.
At the start of the season, Benrahma bagged six goal contributions in seven matches and looked to finally be replicating his Brentford form in a Hammers shirt. However, after that initial burst until the Villa match he had only managed a further four goals and two assists in 26 appearances, form that had led to Moyes often favouring Manuel Lanzini, Pablo Fornals and more recently Nikola Vlasic over the Algerian.
With Vlasic, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio all collecting injuries in recent matches Moyes and the Hammers may soon be relying on Benrahma for goals and getting him back to his early season form could be vital going into a crucial period of the season.
