Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Javier Hernandez's (Chicharito) Situation At West Ham Makes A Winter Move A Priority.




 Javier Hernandez might have been unknown when he signed for Manchester United shortly before the World Cup in 2010 but fast forward to the end of the 2010-2011 season ; he was already a "Hero" for fans of the Red Devils mainly because of his impact from the substitute bench. Game after game , the Mexican scored goals for fun wearing down tired defenders even when Wayne Rooney and Dmitri Berbatov were all preferred ahead of him . In total Chicharito ended the season with an impressive 13 goals from 27 league games .

A natural poacher who timed his runs perfectly, always finishing attacking moves , Chicharito thrived under Fergie's system as the likes of Wayne Rooney, Nani and Michael Carrick fed him . Though he was never the strongest physically nor able to dribble , the Mexican's game was all about finishing off moves and scoring those vital goals as he again finished his second season with 10 goals again winning the Premier League for the second time in the process.

So how did it all go wrong for Chicharito in  West Ham at a time he is supposed to be in his peak ? The Answer is no one else but David Moyes, the same coach who used him only 17 times in his Ill fated time at Old Trafford. This is not to say that Moyes is a terrible manager but rather to point out that both manager and player can't co-exist at the same club as their pattern differ. This season  just like in 2013/2014 season, the Scot has only started the Mexican once 1-0 loss to Spurs (January 04 2018), a game Chicharito made only 26 touches , completinv seven passes despite being on the field for 64 minutes. Having discarded the Mexican while at United for a mere £7m preferring the likes of Danny Welbeck, an aging Van Persie and Wayne Rooney  , the attacker went to prove Moyes wrong scoring a whopping 28 goals in 54 Bundesliga games for Bayer Leverkusen before joining West Ham for £16m this summer. With the best minute-per-goal ratio in  Premier League history before his exit to Real Madrid on loan then Bayer Leverkusen, it is clear why he has struggled to win the trust of the Scot.

A look at West Ham's system this system proves that Chicharito must move this winter away from the Olympic stadium if he wants to feature at the World Cup for Mexico in the summer. Preferring forwards who have decent hold up play and able to play with their backs to goal , Moyes has often played with Marko Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini in a 3-5-2 system ; a system which has so far yielded impressive results as West Ham have moved out of relegation places to 11th in the league.
 Though the former Chivas striker was out for one month when Moyes took over from Slaven Bilic, his situation has turned from bad to worse when compared to his early season struggle under Bilic having scored a goal last since October 28 .

This is not to say that the striker is no longer his old self rather Chicharito appears to be lacking confidence as well as an attacking system where he is surrounded by skillful and creative players as was the case in the Leverkusen and United unlike West Ham who are more physical and defensive. With the transfer still open , Javier Hernandez must cut his loses and move on quickly for regular game time even though it's a side of less European glamour; Game time has to be his priority for the moment .

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