Javier Hernandez puts West Ham United struggles down to David Moyes’ ‘taste’
Former West Ham United striker Javier Hernandez has revealed his struggles during his time with the Hammers were a result of David Moyes’ “taste” in forwards.
The Mexican international joined the ranks at the London Stadium under the management of Slaven Bilic from Bayer Leverkusen in 2017 but left the Premier League in 2019 for Sevilla having only scored 17 goals in 63 games in all competitions.
Only months into Hernandez’s time in East London, Bilic was sacked and Moyes was appointed for his first spell in charge of West Ham and the now 35-year-old forward believes he was never particularly fancied by the Scotsman, following their brief time together at Manchester United.
Speaking in an interview with Paramount+ (29 September) he said: “At West Ham, situations happened there that cannot be planned. Obviously, I had a past that was not the most profitable. For example, I was with David Moyes in Manchester and everyone knew it.
“Slaven Bilic, who, at the time, did everything so I could go to West Ham and then they fired him and hired David Moyes. If there is a coach in the world that we know isn’t going to be a formula that isn’t favourable for your star signing who is playing badly at the moment, and you hire him.
“Those things are out of my hands, you know? It was never a problem of work or professionalism, it was a matter of taste, and sometimes there are coaches who like you more than others.”
Disjointed
Hernandez’s move to the London Stadium seemed to be very much a Bilic signing rather than one made by the club and looking back it seems incredibly strange to sign a new forward for a manager you then decide to sack after only a couple of months.
It’s hard to be too critical of Moyes’ decision to leave Hernandez out a lot of the time as the Mexican has done little since leaving the Hammers to suggest that he could have been the number nine to finally provide consistent goals for the Irons.
For so many years now there have been counter-forwards added to the Hammers ranks without any of them being able to consistently find the net and sadly Chicharito as he’s known falls into that exact category.
Having guided West Ham to three consecutive seasons of European football and the Europa Conference League, you would have to suggest that Moyes has proven he deserves to have the backing of the Irons supporters, especially during his second spell at the club.
In other West Ham news, Michail Antonio has been ridiculed for his no-show following his bold Liverpool prediction