OPINION
On another day West Ham could have gotten something against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The Hammers gave a good account of themselves against a resurgent home side, and but for some questionable refereeing, the width of a crossbar, and a typically heroic performance from David De Gea, they might have come away with something to show for their endeavour.
Despite all of their effort, and some decent quality on the day, the outing still served to prove a point that many Hammers fans must have been shouting for a while now; Javier Hernandez is not a lone striker.
To be fair to Manuel Pellegrini, he was caught in something of a predicament on Saturday. Monday night’s loss to Chelsea proved that the Irons needed to bring an extra man into the centre of the park to avoid getting overrun, and that meant sacrificing a second striker.
Add to that the fact that Marko Arnautovic missed the trip to Manchester with another one of his patented mystery illnesses, and pickings were slim for the Chilean when it came to who would lead the line.
Hernandez was given the nod, but honestly, it only reinforced the point that he needs help up top.
Make no mistake, the Mexican is lethal, but his lack of natural physicality often means that he is simply swamped out of a match when left the fend for himself against two hulking centre halves.
Hopefully, after another relatively drab showing, Pellegrini will have noticed this and won’t player the 5’7″ forward [Transfermarkt] on his own ever again.
