javier-hernandez

Wayne Rooney’s injury at the tail end of last season rendered Manchester United’s attack became predictable, slow and lethargic. Sir Alex Ferguson first tried playing Dimitar Berbatov up front by himself – a strategy that failed miserably against Chelsea – and then partnered Federico Macheda with the Bulgarian only to discover the pair worked even less.

As United limped over the finish line with defeat to Chelsea and a draw against Blackburn, Ferguson’s side surrendered the title because the team possessed no plan B in attack. That might just be changing…

In Sunday’s Community Shield at Wembley Ferguson picked Rooney alongside Michael Owen in a traditional 4-4-2 formation, intending to attack Chelsea from the start. Although Rooney was better than throughout the World Cup in South Africa, the Scouser is clearly not yet 100 per cent match fit. Meanwhile, Owen looked out of position playing deeper than his striker partner.

In the second period Fergie opted to test out a new strike partnership in Berbatov and the Mexican revelation Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernández, as he had done in Ireland last week. Immediately there seemed an understanding between the pair.

Berbatov’s deft flicks and touches were laid off right into the path of Chicharito, whose movement was excellent. Rooney asked John Terry some searching questions in the first half but that was nothing compared to the fits Chicharito had the Chelsea back line in. The Mexican timed his runs to perfection, got into good goal scoring positions and most impressively, he connected with United misfit Berbatov.

Playing alongside the youngster, Berbatov had at last a smile on his face, clearly enjoyed the football and looked more confident than he has in a long time. With Chicharito making runs beyond Berbatov and picking up the ball from the Bulgarian in advanced positions, the Mexican forced the Chelsea defenders deeper, leaving a hole in front of the back four in which the Bulgarian striker could operate.

More than once Berbatov found himself with the space required to work his magic, orchestrating United’s attacks and popping up with a very well taken goal in injury time.

The combination also helped create the space in the middle of the park United so often lacked last season. But this potentially dangerous partnership of Berbatov and Chicharito also brings back the perennial tactical question: 4-4-2 or 4-5-1?

Clearly, Rooney will start for United when fit and the former Evertonian was most effective last season playing the lone striker. So much so that it is doubtful whether Ferguson will make any significant switch away from this formation in the most important matches, especially away from home.

However the blossoming Berbatov – Chicharito combination gives Sir Alex a second potent attacking threat. Significantly, it means Fergie may not have to run Rooney into the ground as the Scot did last season, resulting in the injury at Bayern Munich and the far too rapid return to action.

In reality Ferguson will almost certainly switch between formations depending on United’s opponents as he did for much of last season. The difference is that United now offers more variation going forward.

Finally, United has the plan B that was clearly missing coming down the stretch last season.

Could Manchester United’s acquisition of Mexican striker Javier Hernandez provide a financial boost to the debt-ridden club, with million’s of Hispanics turning away from Barcelona and Real Madrid to proffer their football love (and money) on Sir Alex Ferguson’s team? Perhaps, although probably not in the way it is often reported.

It has long-been the critical refrain of United’s detractors – both internal and external – that the club has sought a marketing benefit from player purchases as much, if not more, than performances on the pitch.

After all, the law of received wisdom tells us that Chinese player Dong Fangzou was bought not for his ability – it turns out he had little – but for the potential to tap into the spending power of one billion Chinese.

Similar arguments are made about United’s far less hapless but no less loved South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung, for whom a legion of millions stay up way beyond bedtime to catch the occasional glimpse of the 28-year-old in action on Korean TV each weekend.

Repeat law for US, Irish, Argentinean, Italian, African and perhaps, although unlikely, Scouse players it is said. The globalisation of football, this received knowledge says, is a gold mine to the club, with new found friends happily parting with Won, Dollar, Kroner, Rupee and Groat to wear the club colours, buy United Callypso on polyphonic ringtone and download a wallpaper.

The effect of Hernandez’ financial magic dust will surely be felt in Mexico and the wider Latin world too?

Indeed, the excitement generated among Mexican supporters – perhaps even more so second generation fans – by Chicharito’s appearance in a United shirt is palpable. The striker’s debut against an MLS All Star Xi in Houston on Wednesday night was met with fervor not experienced on any leg of United’s North American tour to that point.

The baying hordes so associated with the club’s tours of Asia had largely stayed away from United’s trips to Toronto, Philadelphia and Kansas City, via a charity diversion in New York. Not so Houston, with the new striker’s 30 minute cameo and well-taken goal met with a frenzied response in the packed 70,000 capacity Reliant Stadium.

The challenge for United’s management, however, stems from the apparent separation between fandom and revenue generation in overseas markets. It is one the club is slowing beginning to address.

The passion with which United is held in Asia is undoubtedly a boon to the club, although until recently largely unmonetisable. After all, much against common wisdom but a reality nonetheless, there are very few ways in which football clubs – even those as famous as United – can generate cash from its supporters, especially away from the club’s core domestic market.

Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, clubs generate cash from ticket sales. About a third of United’s £279 million revenue in 2009 came from ticket sales. It’s a cash cow the Glazer regime has milked of course, with aggregate ticket prices rising by 48 per cent during the family’s five year tenure at Old Trafford.

Then there are broadcast rights, which United sells collectively to both domestic and overseas markets with the other 19 Premier League clubs. As a successful team, finishing each Premier League season within the top three to date, United garners a larger share of the pot from appearance and success fees than most other teams. It’s a reward for both success on the field and popularity off it, although the disparity between top and bottom earners in England is far less than say in Spain where Barcelona and Real Madrid account for 90 per cent of all broadcast income.

Thirdly, the club makes around another 30 per cent of its annual income from commercial enterprises, including sponsorship and merchandise sales. Within this block Aon, the US-based risk-management firm who paid the club a reported £80 million over four years for shirt sponsorship, and Nike whose £315 million shirt production deal runs to 2015, are the principal partners.

While millions of supporters garnered from overseas markets is a headline-grabber, the percentage contribution to the club’s bottom line is in fact minimal. After all broadcast rights are sold collectively, fans in many markets – more than 90 per cent according to the best guestimates – buy only counterfeit goods if any at all, and the much lauded digital content markets offer almost no incremental revenue streams yet.

In fact the real boon to United’s commercial activity is not from individual fans’ spending per se but the brand association commercial partners garner from the country-specific exclusive partnerships the club has struck over the past 18 months. Ed Woodward’s London-based commercial team has inked a claimed £200 million worth of such deals in the past year – albeit with the benefits spread over many seasons – including sponsorship arrangements with Turkish Airlines, Singha Beer, and Collo y Toro wines.

Hernandez’ acquisition is unlikely to create any significant direct revenue streams though. Shirt sales may well increase in Latin markets, but it’s doubtful that it’ll be at a rate that will herald any relevant increase in turnover. More Mexican supporters may tune into Premier League games, but with broadcast rights fixed for the next three years and sold collectively the other 19 Premier League clubs will benefit just as much as Ferguson’s outfit. United may even benefit from the occasion day-tripping Mexican tourist, although it is unlikely to fill the empty spaces at Old Trafford.

Where the Little Pea’s impact is more likely to be felt by the Old Trafford bean counters – aside from his inevitable sale to Real Madrid cynics might add – is in a new addressable Latin American market for the aforementioned commercial partnerships.

Expect to see Chicharito’s baby-face adorning giant billboards in Mexico City some time soon.

It’s a market unsurprisingly cornered by Real Madrid and Barcelona to date but with the poster boy of Mexican football now firmly on the club’s roster, both Ferguson and the Glazers may have equal reason to hope he hits the ground running come August.

* with sincere apologies to Levitt and Dubner

Javier Hernández formally became a Manchester United player yesterday following a successful World Cup with Mexico in South Africa. Although dumped out of the competition by Argentina last week, Hernández’ side conformed to expectations while the striker hit the headlines with two well-taken goals against France and Diego Maradona’s side.

Hernández,  also known as Chicharito – the ‘Little Pea’ – now joins United amid much higher expectations than just a few short weeks ago, with the 21-year-old’s relative obscurity evaporating by the game following nine goals in his first 17 international games.

Indeed, while the Mexican’s £7 million acquisition was generally viewed as ‘one for the future’, with a first season sacrificed to bedding in, the striker’s growing maturity may proffer an immediate first team opportunity.

It’s exactly this scenario that accelerated the United’s move for the player in April, with the club concerned that an excellent World Cup performance would impact the striker’s eventual price. Driven by the new economics at the club perhaps but a smart move if the player’s undoubted potential is fulfilled.

Hernández’ immediate opportunities will depend on how quickly he adapts both to life in England and the pace of the Premier League. Fleeting glimpses in South Africa confirmed the striker’s excellent first touch, lightening quick pace over the first 10 yards and, surprisingly since the Mexican stands at just 5’7”, a Tim Cahil-esque.

Good form in pre-season might yet accelerate the player’s progress yet further. It’s a view held by former United striker Frank Stapleton, who played 288 games for the club following his 1981 £900,000 transfer from Arsenal.

“He has a good opportunity now to hit the ground running in England,” Stapleton told the Manchester Evening News yesterday.

“Time will tell how he handles that. But the good thing for him is that Sir Alex Ferguson knows just how to introduce young players.

“If the player shows up well early on in pre-season then the manager might just says let’s go with him. Players find their level.

“It might start well for Hernandez and then he peaks and there is a reaction. But Fergie will see that and know it is time to give him a breather.

“He might not have considered Javier for an immediate impact.

“But it has happened in the past where players who were looked on as ‘ones for the future’ have made such a good early impression that the United manager has given them a chance.”

Mexico’s second round elimination and the relatively short game-time the pacey striker gained in South Africa – three substitute appearances and one start – means that Chicharito could play some part in United’s summer tour to North America and Mexico.

United’s game against Hernández’ old club Chivas, in Guadalajara on 30 July, may well be the romantics’ choice for the player’s club début, with Ferguson offering each of his World Cup players a full month’s holiday.

Hernández’ United future also significantly depends on Ferguson’s tactical outlook for the new season. With the United manager rarely deploying two strikers and the World Cup confirming 4-4-2 is effectively dead at the highest level, Chicarito’s role may be restricted to that of Wayne Rooney’s back-up.

With Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Federico Macheda, Danny Welbeck and Mame Biram Diouf already on the books the Mexican will need to hit the ground running if he is to feature next season. Rumours of an impending bid for Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema will hardly help the new import’s cause.

But there is, of course, a precedent for an obscure young acquisition making an immediate impact at Old Trafford – Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 14 years ago. The Norwegian scored on his debut against Blackburn Rovers and went on to score 126 goals for the club.

Anywhere near that and Chicharito will prove a major bargain.

New Manchester United striker Javier Hernandéz scored against Holland in a pre-World Cup friendly and with the FA for a work permit. A day after the 5′ 7″ striker headed home a consolation goal in Mexico’s 2-1 defeat to the Oranje, United was forced to plead ‘exceptional talent’ in order to secure the required home office documents.

22-year-old forward Hernandéz joins United on 1 July but it was dependent on the FA granting a work permit today. Typically non-EU nationals must have played at least 75 per cent of his country’s internationals over the past two years. It’s a criteria that the nine-cap striker falls well short of, forcing United to ask for special dispensation under the exceptional talent rule.

Strangely United called off the deal for Serbia youngster Adem Ljajić earlier this year, claiming that the FA is now reluctant to use the exceptional talent rule after widespread abuse.

While Untied supporters saw Hernandéz as a brief second-half substitute against England on Monday, the Guadalajara-born player scored his fifth goal in nine internationals against Bert van Marwijk’s Dutch side, with Mexico due to face France, South Africa and Uruguay in the World Cup Group A.