West Ham United supporters love a maverick.
From Alan Devonshire, Ian Bishop and Paolo Di Canio to Alessandro Diamanti, Dimitri Payet and Marko Arnautović, the Claret and Blue Army have always enjoyed players who do the unpredictable, get them out of their seats, excite and entertain.
The latest Hammer to fit that profile is Saïd Benrahma, an Algerian winger with magic in his boots.
Two-footed, with a low centre of gravity, the ability to score or create a goal at almost any time, Benrahma is the sort of player the London Stadium faithful willingly pay their money to watch perform.
And in the first half of this season, perform is what Benrahma has done more often than most, providing moments of real brightness amid the relative gloom of a disappointing Premier League campaign to date, and moments of inspiration during the Irons’ perfect run in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Having returned to in the summer fit and strong – he led the way in interval training at the pre-season training camp in France – the 27-year-old scored in victories over AFC Bournemouth, Viborg FF and RSC Anderlecht, and provided an important assist for Declan Rice to grab a draw at Southampton.
Consistency and confidence have come hand in hand for the winger, who has seen his performances improve in correlation with his game-time, much to the delight of his adoring fans.
Going into the mid-season break for the FIFA World Cup finals, the No22 was West Ham’s outstanding player, providing a constant threat down the left flank, from where he has set off on a team-high 59 dribbles, despite only starting eight of the team’s 16 Premier League matches.
While both the player himself and his manager David Moyes would like for his end product to be even more decisive, recent signs point to Benrahma taking his game to a higher level, with goals in the mid-season matches against Cambridge United and Udinese putting him in a positive frame of mind ahead of the resumption of the Premier League campaign, which he marked with another goal at Arsenal on Boxing Day.
Following that game, West Ham welcome Benrahma’s former club Brentford to London Stadium on Friday evening.
The former Bee buzzed under the guidance of Brentford head coach Thomas Frank and playing alongside the likes of Bryan Mbuemo and Ivan Toney, providing 57 direct goal involvements in 94 appearances across two-plus seasons.
This evening, though, his focus will be on upsetting his former colleagues and helping his current team earn a win that will end a rollercoaster year on a high and raise his own rising confidence still further...
I’m really excited. It’s the Premier League. It’s been a month since we last played, so I can’t wait to get back.
It’s a big game coming up against Brentford, so I’m super excited.
I’m trying to give the best version of myself, working on getting my level back... to recover my confidence and to play a bit more freely. I’m feeling good and I hope to continue this momentum and bring more wins for the team and help the team get back to the top.
When I came back in the summer, I was determined.
I know what I am capable of. As you said, I was in good physical shape. I think that played a role. I worked well this summer... But I think that this year, my good form is not so much a physical thing, but it’s more because I’ve regained my self-confidence and I’m trying to be as free as possible on the field. I think that’s what’s helped me.
My good form is all about confidence, and I feel good.
I also have the impression that the players trust me, a bit more than before. So now I try to play my own style of football as it comes, without worrying about it.
I’m regaining my confidence and I hope that will continue because I know I can do a lot of things. I’m trying to work as much as possible in training on my own game to regain this confidence and this style of football that makes me who I am.
I’m 100 per cent sure that if I have the necessary confidence – it’s true that football is not only about confidence – but I know that if I have total freedom, I can do a lot of things and go very far.
So, I try to work on that. Of course, it’s easy to say these things, but doing them is harder. I think that with self-confidence, love and affection, I think I can do many, many things.
I recently passed 100 matches for West Ham and those 100 matches went by quickly. I’m very happy with the fans, with the Club.
Frankly, I’m happy here, because they give me a lot of love, especially the supporters. And that’s what makes me feel good, because I can see it, when the supporters believe in me. They love me a lot and that motivates me.
When I arrive at the stadium, they shout my name, these little things help my confide. I see the supporters backing me, they believe in me. So, I try to give it back on the field and to improve more and more.
I know that the supporters enjoy to see a little of my personal life on Instagram, so I try to share it, when it’s the right time.
It’s actually my best friend who manages my image on Instagram. I like it a lot, but it’s more my best mate who manages it. I like to share my life with the people who love me, but without going over the top, because not what it’s all about.
What I try to show them is my ‘style’ and my football.
I get a lot of messages so I try to share stuff with the people who follow me as much as I can. Sometimes, I don’t feel like posting, I try to be more focused. But then, it’s more my best mate who’s in charge, who’s telling me ‘Here, we need some content’, like when I was on holiday last summer.
So, I try to do that as much as I can... It’s something I’m passionate about. I like it.
Like every football fan, I watched the World Cup finals.
I believe it has been the best World Cup ever. Yes, it’s true I would’ve loved to have played it. I would’ve loved to have played it with Algeria, but that’s destiny I guess... Either way, there were some brilliant matches. I was very impressed.
I would’ve loved any African team to have gone all the way.
I’m very happy, whether it be Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Ghana... In the Maghreb and in Africa, we’re very happy with Morocco; they’ve had an incredible run, they’ve taken out all the big teams. They reached the semi-finals, which is incredible. I’m happy for them because they did an incredible job; they did everything. I’m pleasantly surprised by their spirit and their style of play. I have friends with Morocco, including Nayef Aguerd, of course, so I’m also very happy for them.
