Hernández a jewel but can Manchester United win back crown

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Javier Hernandez has already impressed his new coaches and manager with some outstanding displays at the World Cup – prompting Reds assistant boss Mike Phelan to suggest he can have a “major influence” at Old Trafford.

Hernandez will meet up with his new team-mates on the summer tour of America in time for the match against his former club Chivas in Mexico. And Phelan says everyone at United is looking forward to linking up with the 22-year-old.

"We were quietly pleased with what we saw of Javier at the World Cup,” Phelan told ManUtd.com.

“He’s still on a break after being in South Africa with Mexico, but we’d like to get him on board as quick as we can, so he’ll join us in America. Then hopefully he’ll be a major influence on the team.”

Hernandez’s World Cup performances justified United’s move for the young striker, whose two goals - one of them an unerring finish in their second round 3-1 defeat to Argentina – highlighted his abundant potential.

“We did the deal before the World Cup and that has probably helped us a little bit!” added Phelan. “He has only just begun his career with the national team, but already he is a very influential player for Mexico. He’s young, he’s athletic and he’s as keen as mustard. He’ll be a good addition to what we’ve already got.

"We all hope he hits the ground running and adds to what we think is a good blend of youth and experience in our squad. We just hope it all comes together.”
Hernandez isn’t the only new face in the United ranks this summer. Young centre-half Chris Smalling joined from Fulham in a pre-announced deal and has been training with his new colleagues at Carrington this week. He is another player who has impressed Phelan.

“We’d spoken to Chris a few times before he actually joined us,” said Mike. “He knew he was coming to the club so we kept in close contact with him. He’s with us now and looking forward to the challenge.

"A club this big is brand new for him. But given time and with a bit of patience, I’m sure he’ll do well. The tour will help him settle in and get to know everyone.”

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Tom Marshall interviews Chicharito's grandfather Tomas Balcazar and father Javier 'Chicharo' Hernandez for ManUtd.com...

What qualities does your grandson have as a player?
TB: He’s got a great physique and knows how to use it - what’s the point in having really big, strong muscles if it makes you slower? He moves at the speed and with the power that is required in European leagues. I was saying to his dad about three months ago that Chicharito makes some diagonal runs that I’ve never seen in any Mexican player. He makes diagonal runs and he’s not bothered if he gets the ball or not because he leaves a team-mate free by taking the markers away.

Are there any similarities with either of you in his playing style?
TB: In heading and his big jump. His dad measures just over a metre in height [laughs]. With his shortness, he’d jump for a header and seem to be suspended by cable in the air.

What’s his personality like?
TB: He’s a very quiet boy. He’s 100 per cent professional. He doesn’t drink or smoke or stay up to all hours. When he goes over to Manchester, there might be people who try and change him but if they leave him to live like he knows how, he’ll be fine. He won’t even go out to the cinema sometimes. He prefers to come home after training, eat and then sleep.

When did you notice his talents?
TB: From being very small he was very restless. We used to go to our plot of land in front of the airport and we played little games of football. He used to play with us older folks and he used to slide tackle us and take the ball. We saw he liked football because he was weaned on it since being in the cot.

How have the rest of the family helped him?
TB: The help he received from us is total, unequivocal. When Chivas games ended normally we’d wait for him at the dressing room door and the first thing he’d ask is what we thought of his performance. Well, for us he’s never played a perfect game! We’d say, ‘You played well but you lack a bit of this or that, and in that play where you chose to do this, you could’ve done something different.’ In other words, we always tried to help him improve because if you are telling him he’s doing everything well, he won’t improve. It’s easy to say he was marvellous all the time.
JH: After Chivas games sometimes he wouldn't get back on the bus with the team. He liked to drive back with me and we would go through the game, go over the major incidents and talk it through.

You seem a very close, football-mad family...
TB: I was born very poor in the old Mexicaltzingo neighborhood of Guadalajara. We’re very humble people and I got everything I have now through football. Playing enabled me to have things and later get married and then have six kids. All of them have professional titles. The family is very tight, we eat together every day. It makes me very proud.

Were there any United fans in the house before the transfer?
TB: There was a lot of admiration for Manchester because of the history, the potential and because they are known as the most important team in the world.

What were your impressions of Old Trafford when Javier went to sign?
JH: It was incredible. From when you arrive you feel all the history of the club and the team. From arriving in the car park, you feel a vibe that it is an important club. When you have a look around the stadium you feel all the history and the past that makes the club what it is now. Jim Lawlor [United's chief scout] treated us very well. Everyone in the club made us feel special. The people in Manchester seem excellent too.

How was meeting Sir Alex Ferguson?
JH: It was amazing, incredible. For all the success he’s had he seemed like a humble human being and it really grabbed my attention. It made an impression because I’ve met a lot of important people in different roles. But the gentleman has really got my respect. I never thought he’d be like he was: an exceptional man.

Javier, you're moving to Manchester with your son. What will you do there?
JH: What I want to do initially is to watch football throughout Europe and learn about the footballing culture. Then if an opportunity arises to coach over there or in Mexico again I’m better prepared. I'm not afraid of the move, I'm going there with pride for my son. He’s always wanted to play football in Europe since he started playing. He’s got the chance with one of the top two or three teams in Europe and the world.

Tom Marshall is a journalist for the Guadalajara Reporter.

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Alex Ferguson described new signing Javier Hernandez as "first class'' after the striker scored against Manchester United as they went down to a 3-2 defeat by Chivas Guadalajara on the final game of their Americas tour.

Hernandez played the first half for his old club and the second for his new side and made an immediate impact as he netted after just eight minutes, to the delight of the crowd at the new Estadio Omnilife.

"Chicharito was first class, Ferguson said. "His goal for Chivas was a marvellous strike. He showed his real qualities.

"Chivas played very well and they were very quick. They pressed the ball well and made things difficult for us. They deserved to win.

"As for us, we've been away for three weeks. We've done lots of travelling and I think the players need to go home and rest now.''

After completing the first 45 minutes for the Mexican side, Hernandez changed teams and played for United until the hour mark.

"It was always my intention to give him only 15 minutes of the second half as he is in the process of recovering from the World Cup,'' Ferguson said.

"He will now do some fitness training and endurance work when he arrives in Manchester and he will play more games.''

The Scot has been impressed by Hernandez in his first week of training with the Red Devils and has predicted a bright future for the player.

"Chicharito has done really well. The players have all remarked how good he is and what a great finisher he is - I think there are similarities between him and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

"The players are all supportive of him and have welcomed him to the club. I think he has a great future with us.''

As for Hernandez's role in the team, Ferguson added: "The 4-3-3 formation suits us in some games, particularly in Europe because it's important to guard against the counter-attack and keep possession.

"I think Chicharito can play as a lone striker, there's no question about that. He did it in the World Cup for Mexico. But there are big possibilities of a partnership with Wayne Rooney and other players.''

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can't wait to see this chap in the new season!!

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he is fast, he is quick and he score goals for fun.

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Chicharito can look forward to a "great future" in England after signing off his career in Mexico with a goal for old club Chivas against his United team-mates.

That's the belief of his new boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, who praised the striker for his part in Chivas' 3-2 victory at their impressive new ground, Estadio Omnilife.

"Chicharito was first class," said Sir Alex at the post-match press conference. "His goal for Chivas was a marvellous strike. He showed his real qualities tonight.

"Chivas played very well and they were very quick. They pressed the ball well and made things difficult for us. They deserved to win.

"As for us, we've been away for three weeks. We've done lots of travelling and I think the players need to go home and rest now."

After completing the first 45 minutes for the Mexican side, Chicharito changed teams and played for United until the hour mark - as planned by the manager.

"It was always my intention to give him only 15 minutes of the second half as he is in the process of recovering from the World Cup," confirmed Sir Alex.

"He will now do some fitness training and endurance work when he arrives in Manchester and he will play more games."

The boss is pleased with the way his new acquisition has acquitted himself during his first week with the United squad.

"Chicharito has done really well," said Sir Alex. "The players have all remarked how good he is and what a great finisher he is - I think there are similarities between him and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

"The players are all supportive of him and have welcomed him to the club. I think he has a great future with us."

Where Chicharito's future lies in terms of a precise role within the team remains to be seen, of course. Sir Alex was quizzed at the press conference about the prospect of deploying the Mexican in a three-pronged attack.

"The 4-3-3 formation suits us in some games, particularly in Europe because it's important to guard against the counter-attack and keep possession," replied the United manager.

"I think Chicharito can play as a lone striker, there's no question about that. He did it in the World Cup for Mexico. But there are big possibilities of a partnership with Wayne Rooney and other players."

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his finishing good ...

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good news for Red Devils..

hopefully the partnership with roony is a good one...even better than Yorke-Cole.

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Alex Ferguson has been under fire from some supporters for not adding more big-name players to his squad. Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/EPA

There is always something therapeutic about the first game. Those three months off can feel a long time, particularly when your mind is filled with the coalmine-black thoughts that have pursued Sir Alex Ferguson since we last saw Manchester United in competitive action in May. The league had been lost, the bags under his eyes seemed even more super-sized than normal and the lap of honour after the final game was joylessly going through the motions.

The 2009-10 season will not be remembered at Old Trafford for winning the Carling Cup, or the slash of Arjen Robben's left boot that put them out of the Champions League. It will go into the history books as the year of mutiny, of the green and gold movement and a rebellion that has never been seen before in English football.

The rancour is still there going into tomorrow's Community Shield and a season that could potentially mark an end to the careers of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, and even Ferguson himself.

The Manchester United Supporters' Trust, co-ordinating the protests against the Glazer family, has spent the past few days decorating the city centre with a new poster campaign: "New season, same goal." Season-ticket sales are down, with many fans deciding to boycott while the Glazers remain in charge. Chelsea will be at Wembley as the champions and, for many United supporters, it has become a source of intense frustration that Ferguson, by and large, plans to rely on the same players.

Letters have been piling up on his desk for some time now, demanding to know why the club that once made a habit of breaking transfer records is no longer in the market for the top players. Yet Ferguson is unmoved. "I don't see the value of adding to our squad just because the supporters want it. I'm happy with what I've got and I don't see any reason to go and add to that just because people want you to buy someone."

The perception of the fans is that he is being denied transfer funds, but the manager rigidly denies this. He has, of course, been known to withhold the truth sometimes but his argument is that United actually did well to take Chelsea to the final weekend of last season given that he had 17 players missing for two months or longer through injury, and that they would be terribly unlucky to go through the same again.

"The supporters like you to buy players. They like to see a big signing every year and sometimes the players like to see a big signing, too. But I have to be sensible about it and look at our squad. What do we need exactly? At the moment, adding to what we have with the players everyone says are available just doesn't excite me."

That is not to say Ferguson has completely transformed from the guy who used to buy everyone in the pub a drink to the one who disappears to the toilet when it's time to get in a round. Chris Smalling cost £10m from Fulham and Ferguson may have unearthed a rare gem in Javier Hernández, whose gifts inside the penalty area have already drawn comparisons with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – high praise, indeed, at Old Trafford.

Hernández, or Chicharito as his shirt will say, demonstrated in the World Cup how he comes to life inside the penalty area and it is because of that Ferguson has put in place loan deals for Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf to join Premier League clubs.

"It leaves us with five strikers – the experienced ones in [Wayne] Rooney, [Dimitar] Berbatov and [Michael] Owen, along with [Federico] Macheda and Hernández," he said. "We haven't tried Rooney and Hernández yet, but there's no doubt Hernández has tremendous pace and penetration. He has had a good start, he's an intelligent player and the Mexican league is a tough league so getting players from there and bringing them here isn't a problem for me."

As for Rooney, Ferguson shook his head when it was put to him the player's confidence may be brittle after the ordeals of the World Cup. The same applies to Patrice Evra, the captain of the mutinous French team who has been left exhausted and needs an extra week off, according to his manager.

"Once the players are back here, it's a different world for them. They've got familiarity and the support of everyone. I don't think I will need to put my arm around anyone."

A "poor tournament", to quote Ferguson, has other ramifications. "Rio Ferdinand is still well behind and it will be two or three weeks before he is training," Ferguson said.

Rooney, back from a four-week holiday, is expected to play no more than 45 minutes at Wembley. The idea is to ease the World Cup players back in. "I don't think we will get the benefit of these players until maybe the third week of the season."

The target is the 19th title that will take United above Liverpool as the most successful league club in England. Ferguson, once again, sees Chelsea as the team to beat, with favourable mentions for Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Everton, although, curiously, not Liverpool.

Ferguson said he "did not detect any disillusion" among the fans, although he did acknowledge ticket sales are down, adding hastily "fractionally". His job is to make 2010-11 more memorable for what happens in red and white rather than green and gold.