OPINION
With West Ham reportedly ready to give Rafa Benitez whatever he wants in order for him to become their next manager, Javier Hernandez will finally shine at the London Stadium if the Hammers are successful.
The Daily Mirror reported on Thursday that the Hammers had put Benitez on the top of their four-man shortlist when searching for a new boss, after David Moyes was told he wouldn’t be staying, and were planning on making an approach for the Newcastle manager shortly.
The newspaper added via another report on the Hammers’ pursuit of the Magpies boss, that the London-based club were willing to give the Spaniard whatever he wanted in order to take over.
It is pure genius for the Hammers to make Benitez their next manager, as aside from him proving what he could do with limited resources at St James Park, the effect he could have on Hernandez is exciting.
The current Hammers forward was apparently set to be binned by Moyes in the summer, as reported by The Times, but that idea should be dismiss if Benitez rocks up at the London Stadium.
Hernandez, who joined the Hammers last summer, after the club paid £16million to Bayer Leverkusen for his services and handed him a £140,000-a-week contract according to Sky Sports, had a disappointing debut season at the club.
In the recently concluded campaign, the 29-year-old forward only managed eight goals in 33 appearances and registered one assist in his outings.
The Mexico international was so bad that he went from first-team regular, to warming the bench more often than not, especially after Moyes arrived.
The Scottish manager didn’t appear to favour Hernandez’s style of play, just like when they were together at Manchester United, and it just saw the 29-year-old struggle even more at the club.
However Benitez would love to work with a forward like Hernandez, as the 5ft 7in tall attacker and his potential new manager would be on the same wavelength when it comes to believing how football should be played.
The current Magpies boss doesn’t set his teams up to play long-ball, which sees Hernandez struggling to get the ball against 6ft and above tall defenders, he would have his team play the ball into the forward’s feet.
The forward may be good at heading home crosses, but he struggles when balls are launched at him as he simply can’t win those sort of battles.
Benitez changing the style at the Hammers would allow the 29-year-old to roll back the clock as when inside that box, there have been few who are as clinical in front of goal than Hernandez over the years in the Premier League.
Ahead of joining the Hammers, Hernandez had the fifth-best minutes-per-goal ratio in Premier League history from his time at Manchester United, according to the Premier League’s official website, after scoring 37 goals in 103 appearances.
This is all means that the Hammers’ pursuit of Benitez is pure genius as it means their high-profile signing from last summer will finally be unshackled in order to flourish.
