After falling only two points short of the top four positions, West Ham United finished in sixth in the 2020-21 season of the Premier League.
They have continued their form from last season and are sitting in second place in the table with seven points from three games. They are unbeaten in the league and have scored 10 goals, which is the joint-highest in the league. Manchester City have also scored 10 goals in the league so far.
One man has been influential in the goals they have score (apart from Michail Antonio) and that is Said Benrahma. Benrahma arrived at West Ham from Brentford in October 2020 on a loan deal which was made permanent in January 2021. The Algerian winger has found his feet in the new season of the Premier League and has been involved in four goals so far. He scored one and assisted one in each of West Ham’s first two games of their campaign.
When looking at the above chart, the general rule is that the longer the bar the better the performance – you can see the league average in the middle and the % is the percentile rank the player is in.
We can see that stats for Benrahma are more than the league average. Benrahma has recorded an xG of 0.35 in the three games he has played for the Hammers. Benrahma has also attempted an average of 5.79 dribbles per match with a success rate of 72.22%. He is known for his dribbling skills and how easily he can go past a player.
He has attempted an average of 12.54 attacking actions and has been a threat to the opponent’s defence in each of the three games.
The first two games for West Ham were high scoring game as they score four goals in each match. They were able to create a number of chances and Benrahma was the creator for most of these chances.
From the above visual we can see that the all the stats for Benrahma’s passing skills are relatively more than the average of the league. Benrahma was always known to be more of a playmaker who can carry the ball and provide smart passes to his teammates. But the fact that he is also scoring goals for his team is definitely a value add-on. Benrahma has a passing accuracy of 82.35% which is very high for a player who attempts to make most of his passes in the final third.
The above visual tells us about the number of passes that were made to Benrahma from each of his teammates. Benrahma has received 37 passes from his fellow attackers and has received 20 passes from Cresswell who plays as left back. He has received the most number of passes from Declan Rice. This indicates that Benrahma has been linking up well with his teammates and has a good chemistry with the team. His teammates have been trusting him to start the attack for his team as he is capable of doing so. The passes he received have also had a high xT which indicates he has been able to get into dangerous positions.
Benrahma’s pass map indicates that he has been switching positions while attacking for the Hammers. Benrahma is a player who can play as a wide forward as well as an attacking midfielder in the number 10 position. He started as a central attacking midfielder in their first game against Newcastle but has been starting as a wide forward for the last two games. The pass map depicts that his passes from the left flank have the highest expected threat and he is most lethal when attacking from the left side as he can provide great balls in the penalty box.
Benrahma has been nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month alongside teammate Michail Antonio for his blistering start to the Premier League campaign. West Ham have displayed positive signs at the start of the season, but their real test will be when they face the bigger clubs. Benrahma has had an impressive start to the season and if he can maintain this form, he can surely contribute towards West Ham’s top four dream.
