Slotting Said Benrahma Into ‘a’ West Ham Lineup

A major EFL transfer deadline deal was struck with West Ham signing Said Benrahma from Brentford, but fitting the Algerian attacker into the team isn’t light work.

The signing of Said Benrahma is no small feat for West Ham. The Algerian playmaker was coveted by his Brentford club and they held out long enough to pull every bit of value out of his sale with the domestic deadline hours away from the confirmation of his sale.

Regardless of whether you rate him, think he’s better than Grady Diangana, or still hate the board for simply lying to the supporters about selling Diangana to invest in the team’s defence, Benrahma is a West Ham player and at the price point, needs to factor into the starting XI.

But how?

As it stands, West Ham are thriving in a 5-2-3 formation with wide wingbacks, double holding midfielders (albeit very versatile), and three committed forwards who still have defensive duties despite the seven defensive players behind them. It is a counter-attacking team that, frankly, doesn’t jive with Benrahma’s playstyle.

So, how does David Moyes assemble his team to get results with Benrahma in the lineup? The initial plan has to be a player vs. player battle between him and Pablo Fornals for the starting left-wing position. Fornals, who is out of position here, is bang in-form at the moment after West Ham’s back-to-back wins over Wolves and Leicester. He shouldn’t be dropped.

If not, look to Moyes to set up with a new formation, or rather revisit one he previously used, in order to get his best players on the pitch in their best positions… sort of.

Fabianski
Coufal – Diop – Ogbonna – Masuaku/Cresswell
Rice – Soucek
Bowen – Fornals – Benrahma
Antonio

Will this team work? Only time and usage will tell, but the biggest concern in this formation is the left-back. Arthur Masuaku is a magician when he can get more advanced, but as a sole defender, he isn’t reliable. Aaron Cresswell has thrived as a centre-back but his pace is an issue when played as a fullback.

It can be assumed that Benrahma isn’t a Moyes player, but he was given him to work with by David Sullivan. While this isn’t great news, Moyes also hasn’t had a great track record in assessing talent after passing on Rico Henry and Ryan Manning this window to bolster his left-back options. Long story short, if Benrahma is to be used in a team with four-at-the-back a new left-back was needed alongside him.

I can see Benrahma getting time in the current formation as a late-game sub with Fornals still in form. However, moving forward, will Moyes pick the natural winger over the in-form center attacking midfielder? We have to wait and see because Moyes has been nearly impossible to predict this season thus far.