When Javier Hernandez moved to West Ham, the Mexican naturally generated a lot of excitement. He was well known in England after impressing at Man Utd, and he’d enjoyed a fantastic spell in Germany with Bayer Leverkusen.
He seemed like a natural option for the Hammers, then, in pursuit of goalscoring quality. We were lacking potency going forward, and his record spoke volumes.
However, it just hasn’t happened for him. Last season he got just 8 goals, whilst this term he’s got just 5, and that’s not the level that we expected of him when he joined. It’s not even close.
A reduced rate of goalscoring could be justified if he was doing more elsewhere on the pitch, but the reality is that he isn’t. He’s always been a natural poacher, but with that out of his game, he’s become a bit of a liability at points at the London Stadium.
He’s bagged just 1 goal in 2019. He’s actually got more yellow cards than he has goals or assists this calendar year. That’s a remarkable stat.
The reality is that he’s running out of time. We can’t continue to rely on him if nothing is coming back to the club. West Ham are looking to break into the top six, and the one thing that separates us from the teams above us is a strong number 9 – especially with the ongoing issues surrounding Marko Arnautovic.
We’ve got a couple of months until the end of the season, and if Hernandez doesn’t start firing, we’ll have to consider his future. There’s no other way. His previous record should still mean that he’ll have a decent price on his head, but at this point, someone like Andy Carroll would probably be a better choice – and that says it all.
He’s in a race against time to prove his worth.
Thoughts?
