West Ham United boss Slaven Bilic has been criticised for his misuse of star striker Javier Hernandez.
Somewhat bizarrely Bilic recently admitted publicly that fitting fans’ favourite Hernandez and Andy Carroll into the same West Ham team was ‘almost impossible’.
That went down like a lead balloon with Hammers fans who were left wondering why Bilic signed him in the first place if he did not have a plan to build his team around the fifth best striker in Premier League history in terms of goals to minutes ratio.
Chicharito has therefore been shunted out in a wide left position and finds himself working as a winger – doing plenty of defending too – despite all but one of his Premier League goals coming from inside the box.
Add to that the fact Bilic continues to substitute Hernandez each week – much to the striker’s frustration – and it does not bode well.
All the while the striker’s proud goalscoring record is taking a big hit, as is his ego.
It also led to inevitable speculation that the player is seeking a move in January to be closer to his girlfriend in Spain, reports the striker has since denied.
But Bilic should take note from West Ham’s own media team after they posted a report on Hernandez’s performance for Mexico during the international break on the club’s official website.
Javier Hernandez and his Mexico teammates before their win over Trinidad & Tobago
“Chicharito gave a good performance, with his usual dangerous moves inside the box, and crowned it with a beautiful header in the 88th minute after Trinidad goalkeeper Adrian Foncette had palmed away a shot by Jesús Corona,” whufc.com reported.
The key line ‘with his usual dangerous moves inside the box’ will not be lost on Hammers fans who are sick of seeing a striker famed for his close-range finishing playing on the periphery.
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