The man whose smile has infected everyone at Old Trafford
Javier Hernandez hasn’t just burst on to the scene at United, he’s practically exploded such has been the impact of the “Little Pea.”
Chicharito’s goals, energy, and pearly white smile have made him an instant favourite of Reds everywhere as he’s provided the catalyst needed to lift United to new heights.
On this site a few weeks ago we ran a player of the year poll, featuring all members of the first team, where Chicharito came out on top with just under 2000 votes -which meant one third of the people who voted chose the Mexican.
We’re now running a second poll in conjunction with two of our fellow United sites to find the true player of the season for United fans- now we’ve wrapped up that historic 19th title.
Each site will be giving their choice and putting forward the case for voting them player of the season. The Busby Way have chosen Edwin Van Der Sar,
The United Religion Nemanja Vidic. While both of those players have enjoyed superb seasons, there’s only one choice for Redgflagflyinghigh.
Chicharito has been a revelation this season, taking no time at all to settle in with an enthusiasm and eye for goal that instantly earned comparisons with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Unlike some of our less enlightened rival fans, we at Old Trafford don’t instantly like to compare youngsters with Red legends, but with Chicharito the similarities between him and Ole were too obvious to resist.
Like Solskjaer, Chicharito was practically unheard of when United announced they’d signed him for the upcoming season from Mexican side Chivas.
Any doubts United fans may have had as to the wisdom of signing an unheard of 21 year old from Mexico were duly crushed by Chicharito’s stunning performances in the World Cup, not least his goal against media favourites Argentina.
My biggest regret of recent years was selling my Argentina Mexico ticket for Soccer City, to buy a much more expensive one for the England Germany game in Bloemfontein. Being there to witness the day the world sat up and took notice of Chicharito would have been one to tell the grandkids. Telling them I spent 8 hours on a train back to Johannesburg after watching England get trounced 4-1 by Ze Germans is about as good an anecdote as the one from March 14th 2009.
Since that night in South Africa Chicharito’s shown without doubt why he’s already the bargain of the century costing a paltry £6 million – I say paltry because when you consider that it’s around an 8th of what a certain Spaniard cost Chelsea it puts things into perspective.
So why should you vote Chicharito United’s player of the season? Well allow me to elucidate.
Firstly there’s the excitement and buzz he’s created around Old Trafford.
In a season where many Reds have been left defending United’s away record to the ABU media, or lamenting the lack of a real barnstorming winning run, Chicharito has been a constant source of joy. Not even United’s harshest critics can deny the impact he’s had- which makes it all that bit sweeter.
Then there’s the goals.
As soon as he donned the red shirt Chicharito has been banging in goals with abandon. It took only 18 minutes into his debut for Chicharito to open his United account -which is actually a bit slow by his standards.
A goal via his lovely teeth in the Charity- sorry ‘Community’ Shield, against then Champions Chelsea let everyone know that he wasn’t about to be over-awed by the pace of the English game- in fact the opposite was true, it was the English game that was over-awed by him.
The value for money factor simply cannot be ingored.
An unknown quantity arriving in the Premier League and taking it by storm is practically unheard of and for all the zillions spent by the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and City on strikers none of them come close to the quality of Chicharito. With £20 odd million now a common fee for strikers who struggle to reach double figures, paying £6 million for someone who’s bagged 20, is quite frankly bang out of order.
The importance of his goals.
I recently engaged in a debate with a City fan about the value of Dimitar Berbatov. The City fan was arguing that Berbatov only scored against lesser opposition and got his goals in fits and starts. While I won’t go into that particular discussion again- the same criticism could never be levelled at Chicharito.
The smiling assassin has scored important goals- Stoke away, Marseille at home- a brace in each of those games to be precise, the late winner against Everton, the Champions League quarter final goal against Chelsea the one after only 36 seconds in the league decider. Then there’s the fact he rarely goes more than two game without a goal. He’s quite simply a goal scoring machine who can also score from any part of his body be it his face, back of his bonce or either foot.
Finally there’s his attitude.
While other players cannot wait to jump into their Bentley and shoot off to the nearest brothel erm I mean party, Chicharito will be more than happy to spend time having his picture taken with his adoring fans. Chicharito’s demeanour on the pitch is equally impressive, playing the game as though he’s loving every minute and can’t believe how lucky he is. I never grow tired of seeing him smiling his way through games, or putting a thumbs up to the winger who gave him an impossible pass, even his badge kissing seems sincere.
So there you have it -vote Chicharito, the truly adorable, smiling, goalscoring, loving every minute of being at United, bargain of the century.
Vote on the poll to the right of this article
Check out Saad Noor’s excellent article: El Chicharito Signing of the Season.