Saïd Benrahma: West Ham's most controversial topic.

Has he been West Ham's best player this season? Is his relationship with Moyes as bad as people say it is? Today we're discussing Saïd Benrahma, and if he's really worth all this fuss surrounding him.

Saïd Benrahma joined West Ham from Brentford on a £26M loan-to-buy in a delayed transfer window during lockdown in October 2020. Ever since, there’s always been question marks surrounding him, sparking debates amongst fans on a very frequent basis.

The Algerian was never seen as a “Moyes” signing in the first place; David Moyes’ signings typically consist of efficient workhorses with limited flair. Whilst Benrahma isn’t exactly lazy, he definitely has to be one of the signings with the most flair that Moyes has ever managed.

Due to this, multiple fans across the West Ham fanbase have developed this idea that when Benrahma doesn’t play, its due to the fact that Moyes never really liked him. Think about this further, though. Do you really think Moyes is still that angry that he got Benrahma instead of Josh King in 2020?

I’m certainly an advocate for watching games rather than focusing on stats, and simply making your own judgement from that as it provides the full picture. I also, like many others, have been vastly impressed with a lot of Benrahma’s performances as they appear to the naked eye this season. However, this time, you best believe we’re going to focus on the statistics… and they’re quite interesting.

Above is a graphic representation of Benrahma’s play time in the last 7 Premier League games. Full 90s against Bournemouth, Manchester United, Leicester, Arsenal and Brentford, with 64 minutes against Crystal palace and a 10-minute substitute appearance against Leeds. As of right now, Moyes is certainly not looking for ways to avoid using him.

Yet, when Benrahma came off the bench to score in a grudgingly tight affair against Brentford away in the EFL Cup, shouts along the lines of Benrahma “showing Moyes what he’s missing out on” were made.

For comparison, Pablo Fornals (Benrahma’s main competitor within the squad as Maxwel Cornet is injured) has only played 870 minutes this season, whilst Benrahma has played 939. It may only be a 60 minute difference, but once delved into, fan ideologies become almost void. Benrahma has started one game less than Fornals this season, but to make things even, Benrahma has been substituted on just one more time than Fornals has. The clear difference maker between the two is the fact that Fornals has been subbed off nine times this season, in comparison to Benrahma only being taken off three times. That wouldn’t suggest that Moyes is always “picking on” Benrahma. It also doesn’t suggest that Fornals is a particular “favourite” of Moyes, either.

When it comes to his entire West Ham career, Benrahma has had 7,560 Premier League minutes available to him, having not been signed for six games at the start of the 20/21 season and being unavailable for 2 games due to injury at the end of the 21/22 season. Out of those 7,560 minutes, Benrahma has played 4,512 - suggesting that he has actually spent roughly 60% of his time on the pitch rather than off it.

Whilst it may not be the same amount as the Declan Rices and Jarrod Bowens of this world, it’s still a decent majority which provides a solidified argument as to whether Benrahma is really “out of favour” or not.

However, fans understandably may suggest that he still may have earned even more time on the pitch due to how well he plays. Is it warranted?

Firstly to abolish any confusion that may arise from the fact some of these stats may look fairly low, context does need to be applied.

Benrahma has the most completed take-ons out of the entire West Ham squad. His take-ons as a sum rank him at 6th in the league, with 26 take-ons completed in total. Whilst his success rate may be at 43%, the most take-ons in the league have been completed by Gabriel “one of the best wingers in the league” Martinelli, whose success rate stands at 48%. He also has the highest dribble success rate out of any West Ham winger barring Pablo Fornals, whose success rate stands at 53%. However, Fornals only has 0.5 dribbles completed per game in comparison to Benrahma’s 1.6 - therefore meaning Benrahma’s sample size appears to be roughly three times larger.

Benrahma then has the highest pass success rate out of all the West Ham wingers. To add to this, he (just about) has the highest cross accuracy with 17% (its also not exactly like West Ham as a whole have been throwing in pinpoint crosses all season). Finally, when it comes to shot accuracy, the no. 22’s sits at third amongst all West Ham attackers - behind the two strikers: Gianluca Scamacca and Michail Antonio. But shot accuracy can be a bit misleading, so let’s have a look at the closest thing we can get to a fully contextual shooting stat, and then compare Benrahma to the other attackers.

As seen on the graph, Benrahma’s goal to expected goal ratio is fairly even. He is only underperforming his xG by 0.3 goals, a fairly solid return. Michail Antonio is also performing at a very similar rate, only with one goal and one expected goal less than Benrahma (and less playing time, admittedly). Gianluca Scamacca and Pablo Fornals are both scoring more than they *should* be, with Fornals’ deflected shot from distance against Aston Villa notably earning him his goal. Lucas Paqueta and Jarrod Bowen are both underperforming the most finishing-wise, with Bowen in particular only scoring twice despite being predicted to have scored approximately 5 times by now. As for Maxwel Cornet… I feel bad for even including him, to be honest.

Therefore, Benrahma’s definitely not on the worst end of things in comparison to West Ham’s other attackers, and ranks at 3rd in xG performance amongst them (only due to a particularly fortunate goal from Fornals, too). But when it comes to the whole squad? My only answer would simply just entail none other than Declan Rice.

You see, deep down all of us know that when it comes to performing the role needed, not one person in that West Ham squad gets anywhere close to Rice’s level, even when Rice isn’t at his 100% best. I can’t compare the two statistically due to their different positions, but a lot of the time fans tend to look for something different as Rice’s constant top tier performances become standard procedure. The fact of the matter is that West Ham can perform closer to their highest level if Benrahma isn’t playing, whereas they certainly can’t perform at a level anywhere near their highest if Rice isn’t playing.

So, in the grand scheme of things…

Ultimately, the Algerian is performing at a decent level in several departments. He’s also doing better than West Ham’s other wingers in most statistics, too. However, to say that any of the statistics mentioned in this article are worth the one-extreme-to-another arguments amongst West Ham fans would be nothing short of a lie, and the idea that Moyes has some particular agenda against Benrahma would be a lie too.

He is worth the propaganda he gets given in slightly less heated debates, though!

The message that should be taken from this article I suppose should be something along the lines of: “Benrahma is excellent, one of our best performing attackers right now. But he’s not our best player as a whole, and David Moyes doesn’t hold some violent grudge against him because he didn’t get Josh King in 2020.”

Let’s leave it at that!