Javier Hernandez, a.k.a. Chicharito, was named the male CONCACAF Player of the Year at the beginning of 2016. Chicharito, who led Mexico to Gold Cup glory, admitted in January that he takes pride in hearing Manchester United fans voice their opinion that Manager Louis van Gaal should have kept him.
He was never given regular first team opportunities at Old Trafford, but once he made the move to the German top flight regained his form and really found his stride.
A benched misfit at Manchester United, Hernandez moved to Bayer Leverkusen and became the Bundesliga’s most dangerous scorer. He’s now the face of German football in the Americas.
“If I’d had more chances at United or Real, I’d probably have been ‘the star’ there as well — we’ll never know, because I didn’t have the chance,” Hernandez told FourFourTwo.
“I never had the chance to play 20 games in a row so people could say: ‘He’s a good player who should stay’ or ‘He can’t be the star — he’s not a good player.'”
So while Hernandez took the high road in reference to his time at United, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Michael Schade ripped into Louis van Gaal and United in general, over the treatment of Chicharito. (Go here to read that)
Chicharito was asked if he could been more aggressive to try and get playing time at the Theatre of Dreams.
“Then that wouldn’t be me. I don’t want to be someone else. I treat people the way I want them to treat me.”
“You don’t need to be arrogant to achieve things. Ask the United fans. The numbers are there. I started only 85 games at United and I scored 60 goals [in total],” he said. “At Real Madrid, I started just 12 games and scored nine goals. At Leverkusen I’ve started 37 games and I have 26 goals. The difference is that Leverkusen want me on the pitch. The others didn’t.”
“We all know the history of United and Real — European Cups, fighting for everything — but now I’m with the third-best team in the Bundesliga,” he said.
“Instead of making Leverkusen sound small, I want people to see that they have similar things. I know it’s not the same as United or Real, but this year was the sixth season that I’d played in the Champions League and next season is going to be my seventh.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye edition.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram