West Ham visited Germany for the first time in the 18 months since their heartbreaking Europa League semi-final loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Lucas Paqueta and Nayef Aguerd’s goals gave the Hammers a well-deserved 2-1 victory, and this time they prevailed.

Despite the lack of any Hammers supporters due to a UEFA ban, West Ham established a new English record by going 17 European games without a loss at the Europa-Park stadium.

Moyes’ team have scored every single time they’ve played in Europe, with 16 of those wins. In fact, they’ve only lost four times out of their 29 matches in Europe after starting the season unbeaten for a third year in a row – one of which was a dead-rubber in which they played a youth team.

Playing in Europe also helps with team harmony. It gives the manager the freedom to rotate his players and keep them happy. One player who will likely be anything but that is Said Benrahma, the Algerian winger.

Last season, Benrahma made a name for himself by breaking into the starting line-up and pushing for a place in the first team, culminating in a goal in the Europa conference league final that will live long in the annals of West Ham folklore.

This season, however, he has fallen out of favour in the wake of the arrivals of Mohamed El-Sadd and Edson as well as the departure of Paolo Diangana.

Lucas Paqueta has moved to the left-hand side in recent weeks as a result of Benrahma’s injury.

In a perfect world, the increased competition encourages participants to work more and show more interest when given the chance.

But at the conclusion of West Ham hero Benrahma’s victory over Freiburg, spectators observed something quite alarming about him.

He replaced Kudus with around ten minutes still to go. Many of his followers, though, weren’t impressed by his lack of effort and work rate.

It seems sense that Benrahma would be lacking motivation. Furthermore, entering the game so late makes it difficult.

However, one particular instance surprised West Ham supporters.

The ball was passed down the line with Benrahma should have been at the heart of Freiburg’s attack as they pushed forward in an effort to equalise. The winger had a clear run of five to ten yards to the nearest player, but he halfheartedly pursued the ball, allowing the player to get there ahead of him.

Many supporters on social media as well as in fan forums have pointed out that Benrahma may be sulking over losing his place.

There may be a lack of pace and sharpness in Benrahma’s defence as he hasn’t had much game time this season.

He still provides West Ham with direct running and good skill, but consistency has always been his downfall. He has been a good professional for the club during times when he deserves to be playing, but he has not been given the chance to do so.

Let’s hope he keeps up his positive professional attitude as he is well-liked by West Ham fans and will be given plenty of games this season.