Five games into this season, "Chicharito" Javier Hernandez has five goals for Bayer Leverkusen. Three came during Saturday's 3-2 win over Mainz, including this stoppage time winner.
‘Chicharito’ Javier Hernandez completes hat trick with stoppage time winner for Bayer Leverkusen
All three goals were Chicharito-style poacher’s efforts, in perfect Bayer Leverkusen style.
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All three goals were similar, and classic Chicharito finishes -- you can watch the first here and the second here. None were technically beautiful, and none came off gorgeous, flowing moves with perfect assists. They were scrappy, high-effort, low technique goals that required the Mexican striker to anticipate where the ball was going better than the defenders. This was the perfect Chicharito game.
Chicharito has 31 goals in just 45 appearances since joining Bayer, whose frenetic, wide-open, counter-pressing style of play has suited him perfectly. “They’re a team that trusts me,” he told Bundesliga.com’s Daniel Thacker about why he joined the club. “That’s what I needed.”
He explained his style of play perfectly back in May. “I’m a person who cannot be doing nothing,” he told Grant Wahl in an interview with Sports Illustrated just before Copa America. “I have a deficit. In Mexico we say hiperactivo—hyperactive. I am hyperactive! ... On the pitch you can probably see that. I’m always moving-moving-moving. And I’m a cheeky player. I try to be there and there and there. And if you’re standing up, I’ll make it look like I’m moving this way—and then I move that way.”
That style didn’t fit with David Moyes, Carlo Ancelotti or Louis van Gaal. But for Roger Schmidt and Bayer Leverkusen, he is perfect, and they are perfect for him.
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