A star in the making?

It has been interesting to watch the first few friendlies that United have played in the run up to the start of the Premier League season, especially watching the play of Javier Hernandez since his debut against the MLS all stars two weeks ago. Hernandez joined the club officially in July 1st, although he was actually signed back in May. At the time of his signing the news flew under the radar, as most United supporters had never seen him play at Chivas Guadalajara his old club. From what I saw of him in his highlight reels he looked like a player. However I have to admit I've been very surprised at his ability to grasp the pace of the English league, and especially that of Manchester United.

Current club legend Paul Scholes recently mentioned that Hernandez looks like "an out-and-out goalscorer,'' the Mexican striker has been compared to former United great Ole Gunner Solskjaer. Scholes went on to add in the interview, "People say he's like Ole, and I thought that the first time I saw him in training. We did a finishing session and everything was in the bottom corner. He scores whenever he gets a chance. He comes on and looks lively. He's adapted to the pace of the game already". This among many other attributes maybe the one that defines how big of a star he can become at United.

For example when Cristiano Ronaldo joined United in 2003 it took him almost 3 years to blossom into the talent everyone knew he was. One of the things he always said slowed his development in England was truly learning and dealing with the sheer pace of an EPL game. At least during his first few run outs for the Red Devils "Chicharito", his nick name which means "little pea", looks like he already begun to feel right at home with the speed of the game. Of course whether or not he can keep this up during the regular season remains to be seen, but rest assured he has already convinced the most important person, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Hernandez really peaked the football world's attention at this summer's World Cup, where he score two goals and impressed with his creative play, pace and ability to run the channels and get behind defenders. When it came to his finishing in front of goal was superb. He will be a massive part of Mexico's youth push at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and in all likely hood will be Mexico's number 1 striker.

Again as I said above only time will tell if Chicharito will become a world star, but based on his World Cup and start at United, he's well on his way.

Cheers,
Mike