Benrahma still needs time to settle in at West Ham

After bringing Said Benrahma to the club last October, many West Ham fans expected him to slot in straight away and perform his magic.

This, however, has not yet been the case and has resulted in murmurs from disgruntled supporters that he may not be as good as many thought he was.

After performing to such a high standard in the Championship for Brentford over the previous two seasons, you can forgive fans for being eager for the Algerian to showcase his evident talent at Premier League level, but things don’t always work out as smoothly as that.

Like David Moyes did with Jarrod Bowen, the Hammers boss has started Benrahma just three times in the league since his arrival which, whilst not necessarily the fault of anyone, has disrupted any sort of rhythm that the tricky winger may have been able to gain had he started more consistently.

In a grand total of 394 minutes played, Benrahma has provided two game-winning assists – both at home to Fulham and Aston Villa – which, ironically, have come as a substitute.

Arguably his best start came in December’s away win against Leeds United where Irons fans finally got to see him in full-flow, as his trickery and movement caused trouble to the home side throughout the match, whilst he was constantly looking to test their goalkeeper from range – something that West Ham players perhaps don’t do enough.

Benrahma was criticized on Monday night by Hammers fans for his performance away to Stockport United in the FA Cup – which the team won thanks to a late Craig Dawson header – perhaps more so than any other player.

His usual game, though, was arguably affected the most as his dribbling and general ability of the ball were countered by the almost unplayable conditions of the pitch.

With things going well for the club at the minute, it is no time for fans to be getting on players’ backs, especially new signings who are still trying to adapt to top-flight football.