Camila Sosa
Chicharito Hernández scored a brace in the LA Galaxy’s 1-3 win over the Portland Timbers in MLS Week 5, and head coach Greg Vanney raved about the Mexican striker.
Chicharito is among the top six scorers in the 2022 MLS season, after scoring four goals in five games played. He scored his first double-double of the season last weekend, so Vanney believes he is playing at a very high level.
“Since I’ve been here, Javi has been great. The run on the first goal he scores is absolutely world class. Anyone who wasn’t paying attention to his run, he ran the center to the near post and peeled off his backside. I don’t know, there are only a couple of strikers in our league who move like that and do actions like that. He is obviously playing at a high level and is capable of scoring goals,” said the strategist in a post-match press conference.
Despite his scoring streak, Chicharito does not have a place in the Mexican National Team, and Vanney said he does not know why Gerardo Martino does not call him up, but assured that they appreciate the work the Aztec striker is doing with the Galaxy. “Gerardo Martino chooses his players and he knows why he doesn’t call them up, but we appreciate the work Javi has been doing with us and the goals he’s been scoring.”
Vanney was keen for Chicharito to continue at that level and said, “We want to keep him in that frame of mind and keep him in shape.”
Chicharito Assures that He Will Keep Working
For his part, Chicharito said that he continues to work as his family taught him: “On that subject, as I have said for many years, it is always the same answer. I am trying to do things in the best way, as I was taught”.
It should be remembered that Hernández is the top scorer of the Mexican National Team with 52 goals, but has not been called up by Gerardo Martino since September 2019.
On the other hand, after collaborating with two touchdowns in the victory against Portland, Hernández said: “It is very, very valuable to go to Portland and get a victory. The atmosphere is always incredible because they have very good fans, they support the team a lot. You can feel that they are used to fighting for championships”.
And he also took the opportunity to complain about the synthetic turf of the field: “The only flaw is the grass that I don’t like, obviously, I love natural grass and I’m used to it. But that’s the only flaw, because the atmosphere is amazing. So to come here, to take the three points, it’s amazing.
