Hernandez likely to stay at West Ham after Pellegrini appointment
One of West Ham’s forgotten men is set to return to the forefront. Reports are emerging that Pellegrini wants Chicharito to be a key player next season.
As I noted a few days ago, West Ham have a number of players with undecided futures. It seems that Pellegrini has decided Collins is not in his plans, and is now looking to Mexican striker Hernandez to prove his frustrations were justified last season and step up to the main striker role.
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Pellegrini seems to have come in like a breath of fresh air at the club. Gone are the stale worries of fans about poor football and lack of ambition, the former City manager has come in and said so many of the right things. By giving each player a chance he’s insured that players both young and old will return excited. Also, for the fans, hearing that Chicharito will be used more is music to their ears.
Tough 12 months
When Hernandez joined last year it was viewed as a strong move by the Hammers board. Bilic had got a striker he wanted and there was hope the finishing we were missing would be there in abundance. However as the team struggled to adapt to the new style, Chicharito found goals were hard to come by.
Through not much fault of his own he found himself in and out of the squad, frequently isolated when he did play and slammed by fans when he wasn’t creating and scoring goals all of his own accord. The fact remains he is a decent finisher, and keeping him at the club makes sense.
If Pellegrini can get the most of the attacking players we have that will be a huge step forward. Moyes did get us over the line but struggled to regularly unlock opposition defences, completely failing to find a way to find an effective way to get Arnautovic, Lanzini and Chicharito into a single team. And that’s before we consider Carroll, who can impact a game and give a striker like Hernandez space.
Next: 5 players Pellegrini must decide what to do with
But it will be up to the striker himself to show his frustration was justifed. To prove that he can be the striker he was for other clubs for. Can Hernandez fire West Ham to a European spot?