Bright future: Hernandez will be at Old Trafford for
many years, says Hartson
With a flick of the back of his head,
Javier Hernandez put
Manchester
United on their way to victory at Stoke on
Sunday and left fans and pundits alike purring at his
ingenuity.
The Mexico striker, unheard of when he signed for
£6million in the summer, opened his account via his face
against Chelsea
in the Community Shield. But
there was nothing unplanned about his beauty at the
Britannia.
Sportsmail asked three of British football's
greatest headers of the ball to make sense of Chicharito's
effort...
I've seen some great
headers of the ball, people like Bob Latchford, Teddy Sheringham,
Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand, but it's hard to believe that any
would have tried what Hernandez did.
It was a very instinctive goal
and special for its uniqueness. Most strikers in that position,
even with their backs to goal, would try to twist their body
around.
He deserves 11 out of 10 for
improvisation and execution - but you still need a fair bit of good
fortune to score when you are facing away from goal.
As a Sky Sports pundit, I've
seen Tim Cahill score some fantastic headers for Everton. It is an
art that requires different skills: some are power headers from 12
yards, some where you have to generate your own power, some that
you need to glance without hardly touching it at all and each can
be a great header in its own way. But I doubt you will see a goal
like Hernandez's for quite some time.
For instinctiveness, it
reminds me of my 'half-volley header' for Everton against
Notts County in the 1984 FA Cup quarter-final. The cross
came in towards my feet, I was six yards out, and everyone would
have expected me to stick a leg out, but I instinctively dived to
head it in just as it bounced up from the ground.
I scored different types of headers,
but never one like that. The way he arched his back and neck to
swing his head was impressive and something you can't
practise.
It wasn't the best goal I've seen, but
certainly the most unusual header and an incredible piece of
improvisation. He could have fallen over and looked a bit silly and
I'm sure no one would have been surprised if it went wide or over
the bar. To even want to try it was great - it is something that
the likes of Fernando Torres might well attempt.
To tell whether he can become as good, you can
only listen to his manager and team-mates, and they are all saying
good things about him.
Hernandez has got a long future at United and
there are one or two to get past in Wayne Rooney and Dimitar
Berbatov, but he can become a regular fixture.
There are too many great headers of the ball
such as Mick Harford, Geoff Hurst, Alan Shearer to pick a favourite
and I wouldn't compare Hernandez's goal to one scored with the
forehead.
A favourite that springs to mind was by Ryan
Giggs when I was playing against him for Coventry. Manchester United beat us 4-2 at Old
Trafford and Giggs scored the crucial goal with a powerful header
from the edge of the area.
Poacher: Hernandez's (left) second strike at Stoke
again showed his eye for goal
I can honestly say
that, both as a player or manager, I've never seen anyone practise
that kind of skill.
Hernandez reminds me of all
great finishers. They draw such quick pictures in their heads and
come up with solutions whereby they are able to find the
net.
It was certainly deliberate.
It looks to me like Sir Alex Ferguson has found a new Ole Gunnar
Solskjaer.