Speaking recently on The Athletic’s U Irons podcast, Roshane Thomas discussed his frustrations with West Ham United winger, Said Benrahma.
Since arriving at West Ham from Brentford in what was originally a loan deal that the Hammers made a £20.79 million permanent move in January, Benrahma has gone on to make 17 Premier League appearances for David Moyes’ side.
Over these fixtures, the £19.8 million-rated 25-year-old has so far scored no goals but has provided his teammates with four assists, as well as averaging a slightly disappointing WhoScored match rating of 6.56 – ranking him as the club’s fifth-worst performer in the top flight, of players who remain at West Ham.
And, speaking on a recent episode of the U Irons podcast, Thomas revealed some of his frustrations with the Algeria international, as well as suggesting that Moyes will be trying to coach certain aspects out of Benrahma’s game.
He said: “I’m not saying Benrahma is like Cristiano Ronaldo, but I remember when Ronaldo was first at Manchester United and he would do all these stepovers and all these tricks, and I reached a point where I thought, ‘Less is more – you’re talented, but less is more’.
“I feel like that’s what Moyes is trying to coach into Benrahma – you can do all the tricks but do it at the right time. Obviously, he’s made great progress, but I feel, in time, he will come good.”
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TIF Thoughts on Roshane Thomas’ comments regarding Said Benrahma…
As mentioned previously, despite the fact that Benrhama does have four Premier League assists to his name so far this season, the winger’s overall WhoScored match rating would indeed seem to prove that the 24-year-old is not being as effective in games as perhaps he should be, as Thomas suggests.
And, considering how influential Benrahma was in the Championship for Brentford last season – when he scored 17 goals and provided nine assists, as well as averaging a WhoScored match rating of 7.49 – it would indeed seem as if the winger needs to work on his game in order to reach the same level of performance and contribution in the Premier League.