Javier Hernandez Signs

[Cuenca 'ammer]

we'd get crucified in midfield with 3.

push on your wingers to push our full backs back, push up your full backs in support and with Arnie, Anderson and Hernandez doing very little defensively we'd be overrun.

[sutts07]

we'd get crucified in midfield with 3.

push on your wingers to push our full backs back, push up your full backs in support and with Arnie, Anderson and Hernandez doing very little defensively we'd be overrun.

Flip side of that of course is that if it broke for us we'd have our three attackers in plenty of space with the opposition massively over committed... Everton fell for it for over an hour.

We'd have Rice and Obiang sweeping side to side to help out the full backs too. It could work.

[westlondonhammer]

Rice
Noble Obiang
Anderson
Hernandez Arnautovic

Using Zabaleta and Masuaku for width with Rice dropping into a back three if needed, Anderson given total freedom.

Not only a big change up top but also in terms of expectations from our midfield - Noble and Obiang would need to spend a significant proportion of time covering our full backs (moreso than now) which would leave a lot of work for Rice in the middle.

Could it work? It'd take a lot of work on the training ground and we'd need to be more centrally compact as a team. I'd prefer that to the simple default of sticking Snodgrass, Perez or Antonio in for Yarmie.

[Patito]

we'd get crucified in midfield with 3.

push on your wingers to push our full backs back, push up your full backs in support and with Arnie, Anderson and Hernandez doing very little defensively we'd be overrun.

Anderson contributed little defensively at the weekend, but then before that, has been one of the best wingers in the league defensively. If we could get him to play like he did against Man Utd and get Hernandez to put in a shift like he does for Mexico it could work. It's a massive risk though because we've all seen them have games where they haven't tracked back (Hernandez moreso than Anderson).

[EastleighHammer16]

I'd much rather shuffle the team around to fit Chicha in than have to play Antonio now that Yarmo is out for the season.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

I have been fairly vocal in my support for him, which surprises me as I was not that keen when we signed him. Personally i think he offers far more than people give him credit for

Against most of the teams in the league, a a midfield three of Obiang, Noble and Rice should be sufficient. let's not forget Rice is getting better and better by the game and offers us the deep lying pivot we did not have last season

Then the other three should be Hernandez and Arnie in flexible, fluid partnership with switching between the two for the furthest forward and one other - personally, for me, it would be Snodgrass...but i appreciate that Anderson is not going to warm the bench given his fee

It is a big test for our manager now. This is what he gets paid the top moolah for

[Cuenca 'ammer]

Leics. 2-0-2 at home, w-l-w-l at home

lost at home to the Bin Dippers and Everton. Beat Wolves and Huddersfield.

should be beatable but where oh where are we going to get goals from ? they don't exactly score loads at home either.

0-0 or 1-1 written all over it.

[Aceface]

A lot of factors have suddenly come together to make this the right time to attempt a Hernandez reboot.

– Yarmolenko's injury robs the team of one of its few current realistic source of goals
– The team are more defensively solid than any other time during his spell here which might allow a better balance than prior attempts to incorporate him. Which either saw us parking the bus and leaving him isolated, or being far too open and getting clobbered.
– A stretch of fixtures ahead where the intensity should theoretically be half a notch down from anything so far, which reinforces the previous point
– It's not like-for-like in terms of positioning and demands from a straight swap for Hernandez, but Yarmolenko has hardly been a defensive titan. Despite his unpopularity this week, it would be far worse for that side of things had it been Anderson who'd been scratched.
– Since Anfield we've matched up to every team and invariably had significant periods where we've been on top of each of them, but have been incredibly wasteful with our chances. Arnautovic will always create chances for himself but even before he left Stoke was known for needing three clear cut ones for every one he'd finish. With his dicky knee that's unlikely to improve.
– And probably some other stuff as well but everyone has stopped reading by now because this is a really boring list

Short version: Release the Kraken.
.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

great post Aceface

[S-H]

great post Aceface

x2

[hammerman11]

personally I would play Hernandez as we need more of a goal threat but what we do with Anderson will be key. hopefully he had a bad day and will be back with a point to prove against Leicester.

fab
zab diop Balbuena masuaka
noble rice obiang
hernandez arnie anderson

subs adrian cresswel fredericks ogbonna snodgrass antonio diagana

[ageing hammer]

personally I would play Hernandez as we need more of a goal threat but what we do with Anderson will be key. hopefully he had a bad day and will be back with a point to prove against Leicester.

fab
zab diop Balbuena masuaka
noble rice obiang
hernandez arnie anderson

subs adrian cresswel fredericks ogbonna snodgrass antonio diagana

I am liking that selection

[Gsbgsb]

I do not think Hernandez is as effective wide as either Snodgrass or Antonio would be. If you play him it has to be through the middle. This means either shifting Arnie wide and giving up any physical presence or real pace through the centre or play 2 up with all the problems that we had with that in the first few games. For me he just does not offer enough defensively especially when combined with Arnie and Anderson.

I believe Hernandez is still better off the bench against physically and mentally tiring defenders when if chasing a game you want to go 2 up top not starting with that system.

[englebert]

I would only bring Hernandez on from the bench. He seems to lightweight. Nothing sticks with him. Last 25 if you are chasing a goal whether it be equaliser or winner.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Football is not rigid.

Just because Arnie may nominally start off wide with Hernandez in the centre does not mean he has to hug the touchline and thus cannot provide a physical presence. Similarly, just because Hernandez is playing as the 'front' man doesn't mean he is going to have to spend the entire game stationed there holding the ball up

They can be fluid and interchange. The point is that with hernandez playing we have someone on the pitch who, more often than not, will finish chances he gets and who will occupy defenders with his constant movement giving others more space

[Ozza]

When's Beckhams MLS team up and running? Got a sneaky feeling little pea would be a target for them

[hammerman11]

needs a big game this weekend. needs to toughen up put the effort in and stop the diving. also needs to score a goal or two !

now is his chance will he take it ? he has a history of not doing well when he starts and that is why he is mainly used as a sub.

fingers crossed

[Crouchend_Hammer]

now is his chance will he take it ? he has a history of not doing well when he starts and that is why he is mainly used as a sub.

Does he?

In his last six starts in all competitions he has scored three goals and got three assists (i think)

[il_martello_di_genovesi]

Needs to start at the Weekend. We’ve lost one of our main goal threats in Yarmolenko and we were better when he came on at the Weekend. Pellegrini gets paid to figure out how to get him and Arnie working together in the same team.

4 blanks in our last 7 Premier League matches? A proven goalscorer should now not be sitting on the bench.

[Cockneyboy311]

Needs to start at the Weekend. We’ve lost one of our main goal threats in Yarmolenko and we were better when he came on at the Weekend. Pellegrini gets paid to figure out how to get him and Arnie working together in the same team.

4 blanks in our last 7 Premier League matches? A proven goalscorer should now not be sitting on the bench.

Hard to argue with this.