OPINION
Danny Mills revealed he was expecting West Ham attacker Javier Hernandez to be axed from Manuel Pellegrini’s starting line-up for the clash with Watford on Saturday.
The Sky Sports pundit shared he would be surprised if Sebastien Haller didn’t start in Hernandez’s place and added that he thought the former Manchester United player would not have a problem dropping to the bench.
Mills explained that he thinks Hernandez will be expecting to make way for Haller and added that due to this then, it’s unlikely to be a problem for him and also stated that due to him being a good professional it will just see him knuckle down and work harder.
“It still has to be Haller (starting). He’s the new signing, he’s the one that they’re all looking to. I’d be very, very surprised if he doesn’t start this weekend,” said Mills in an interview with Football Insider.
“He’s (Hernandez) accustomed to that, he’s done that an awful lot throughout his career. I don’t see that being a big problem. He will have known – when you bring in a striker for big money, as long as they’re playing well, they’re going to start.
“Hernandez would have known this was coming – it’s not like he was ousted, not like he was the regular all of last season and that’s changed. He’s a very good professional and he will knuckle down and work hard.”
While Mills is probably spot-on to believe Hernandez will understand that Haller is considered ahead of him in the pecking order and that this means he won’t start on Saturday with the Frenchman fit again, surely he’s wrong to imply the Mexican forward will take it very well.
After all, Hernandez should surely feel miffed as he delivered the goods when given the chance against Brighton last Saturday.
The 31-year-old hardly got any good service in the 1-1 draw with the Seagulls, he managed only 17 touches before being subbed in the 82nd minute (Source: WhoScored), yet he was the man who got the Hammers’ goal.
Despite only have one shot, Hernandez slotted the ball home and ensured Pellegrini’s side came away with a point, and you can’t really ask more from him than that.
After all, if the experienced forward wasn’t so clinical and ice-cool in the box, then the Hammers would still be on 0 points after two games played.
So surely Hernandez should feel entitled to a reward? This is especially the case when he probably has a good chance of getting better service against Watford as the Hornets have hardly been defensively formidable in their opening games.
The Hornets have conceded four goals in their opening two games, and it’s worth nothing Brighton carved out enough space for five shots at goal against Watford, as per BBC, while Everton managed to register 12 shots (Source: BBC).
So with that in mind, while Mills claims that Hernandez will just shrug off being dropped for Haller, he might be wrong on this occasion.
