Football Forum | Ticket Forum | Off-Topic Forum | All

E12Hammer 1:38 Mon Apr 9
Javier Hernandez

So exactly how does Moyes get him into the team?

Natural goal scorer, who in another team would score close to 20 goals a season, just not for us it seems.

I think Arnautovic could play as a 10, but does that mean we sacrifice some width? Unless we play a 4-4-1-1, but Moyes likes playing 3 centre backs.

So that leaves us with a 3-5-1-1

..................... GK
...........CD ... CD ... CD
RWB ............DMF..........LWB
............CM ..............CM
......................AMF
.......................CF

Getting Hernandez into this set up isnt easy, as it seems to me that the choice is with either him or attacking width. Zabaleto is a good defensive right wing back, but hasnt got the legs to be offensive as well.

As much as I dont like Masuaku, he is a good wing back, gets forward, and gets his fair share of assists.

How would everyone else do it?

Darby_ 1:41 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

I’d just bring him on earlier.

Maybe next season play with him up front with Arnie, but I don’t think we have the players for it right now.

Lee Trundle 1:44 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

I reckon we need a new manager to get Hernandez in the team.

Swiss. 1:47 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

We can't play them both until be get a stronger midfield.

Our midfiled has been a major problem all season. Chelsea just walked through.

The Carvalho and Dendonker failures were a major fuck up by the owners.

Rossal 1:48 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Play him up top with Arnie buzzing just behind. Play them as a two the way that Arnie and Lanzini did up at Huddersfield

If they smash it between now and the end of the season then they get the nod next year to start off with

Mario can then be freed up to play in the middle with Nobes or Kouyate so there is a bit of quality to feed balls to the frontmen

Lanzini may miss out, but his performances this season havent been great anyway to be honest

Find our best team......not a team filled with our best players

On Chicarito tho.....yesterday a top top finish but thought for rest of his time on the pitch hardly ran at all

busheyhammer85 1:48 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Personally thought him and Arnie linked up well yesterday.

They could definitely play together.

But i don't think we have a strong enough midfield to enable them to do so.

Alex V 1:59 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Another goal ghosting in from that wider position yesterday - that's a way of getting him on the pitch, probably the best way.

As I've said all season I don't think you can start a player like Hernandez in this league without weakening the team. The commentator yesterday was trotting out the usual platitudes - "lots of managers would love to be starting matches with Hernandez". Not true imo, and easier said than done. After the goal he played up front as Arnie dropped back wide and was anonymous again. I think he suits being a late sub and maybe playing wide when he does come on. If you're even or winning I think he's very hard to bring on at all, because you're sacrificing the build-up play he just can't do. I also don't think it's necessarily about the midfield - you can have the perfect midfield, but if the ball doesn't stick up front its a weak option.

Considering he's the ≈20th highest paid player in the league it's a terrible waste of resources, though he could argue that the price is worth it for the goals he will score even as a late sub. That's the trouble - his finishing is exceptional but as an option he's almost unplayable. Why did we opt in to such a daft option?

Lee Trundle 2:17 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

"as Arnie dropped back wide and was anonymous again"

Anonymous? Some STATS for you. 50% of Arnautovic's shots in that game came after our goal, plus he had a decent penalty shout.

Good one, V.

Alex V 2:22 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Yes the wording is a bit vague, but I was talking about Hernandez being anonymous, not Arnie. The thread is about Hernandez.

RichyP 2:23 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Lee Trundle 2:17 Mon Apr 9

I think he meant Hernandez was anonymous when he went up front after Arnie dropped back wide.

I wouldn't waste too much energy thinking about this cos he'll be off at the end of the season.

Lee Trundle 2:29 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Then I'm likely to agree with you, V. But that's what Hernandez is all about.

He's one of the best finishers this league has seen, IMO. I think it would be scandalous if we're unable to find a formation where he doesn't start.

So what if it's like we're playing the game with 10 men with him on the pitch? We're also a counter attacking team, so ball retention shouldn't be seen as massively important. We need a player who can covert the little chances we do create, and he's perfect for that.

It's obvious Moyes doesn't like him though, so one has to go, IMO.

Alex V 2:33 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Trouble is that being a dysfunctional team with a great finisher is not a model that leads anywhere. Like Defoe at Sunderland. I think it's a complete dead end for the club and we have to move Hernandez on and use the resources more constructively.

goose 2:35 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

he'll be off in the summer so i wouldnt worry.

Bernie 2:35 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Hernandez looked completely unfit to me yesterday, lovely finish but could barely run, whether that was laziness or fitness who knows.

What was the point buying him if we weren't going to try and get the best out of him?

Poor from Sullivan, Bilic and Moyes.

Takashi Miike 2:38 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

we played better when Hernandez was on the pitch yesteday, he should be a certainty for the Stoke with any other manager

busheyhammer85 2:44 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Teams that play with Hernandez need to realise that he offers very little else other than goals.

But seeing as goals are the single most important thing in a football match, it's not a bad thing to offer.

I'd take Arnie all day over him though, and i cannot see us starting with both.

HairyHammer 2:45 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

Just allow him a free role to roam about sniffing out a goal he works brilliantly with Arnie , you know he really is a world class striker and I for one would love him to stay.
I cannot believe we are discussing tactics and where to play him if West ham attack with want and Hernandez gets into a decent position he gets a pass or a ball to run onto he has enough class about him and he will score.
If we sit back and attack in bits and bobs with just three players going forward cautiously then Hernandez will like any other striker playing in such a team get lost, he is not a magician he has to be given opportunities to score.

franksfat&slow&wank 2:57 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

players like him are like gold dust therefore you should recruit to work to his strengths and then have the plan B for when he's injured like Carroll or whatever

our problem as always is we never recruit sensibly

LeroysBoots 3:09 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

franksfat&slow&wank 2:57 Mon Apr 9

Spot on

Years of ridiculous recruitment, Sullivan makes it up as he goes along, we have never had a coherent recruitment plan under this clown

Alex V 3:18 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

>>> I cannot believe we are discussing tactics and where to play him if West ham attack with want and Hernandez gets into a decent position he gets a pass or a ball to run onto he has enough class about him and he will score.

But that's the paradox. If you play him the ball doesn't stick so attacks fall down time and time again, and then he doesn't get the pass to score. He's a self-negating player :). I hate to say it, but that's why he's at West Ham.

I also don't think you can play around his strengths or recruit around them either. If you have a player with fundamental weaknesses, it doesn't matter what else you do, you will be weaker. Best-case scenario you play the little and large combo with Carroll or someone similar, but honestly what are the examples of that working in the Premiership this century? Even if it does work it is limited, very one-dimensional, and leaves you one short in midfield or defence against teams set up to exploit that (which is most teams these days).

There really isn't an answer to it imo. Worse, it perpetuates the problem to try and blame other areas of the team or the transfer strategy for the weaknesses of your highest-paid player. The more the club sacrifices to try and carry him the more they will continue to struggle. Hernandez imo is a fundamental reason (not the only one, but a big one) why we are where we are in the table.

Alex V 3:33 Mon Apr 9
Re: Javier Hernandez

I forgot to add that his wage is a huge reason why our transfer strategy is so inflexible. We cannot have players on twice to three times our average wage under FFP and also have a 25 man squad full of quality players! The maths simply doesn't work!

Page 1 - Next