Every now and then a player arrives on British shores who becomes universally popular. Us Brits love to hate. If a player ain't wearing our shirt we'll find something wrong with him. Does he dive? Does he antagonise away fans? Does he have a history of drug abuse or has his dad ever been caught shoplifting from Tesco? If he has, we'll find out and let him and the good people of Great Britain know.
For Javier Hernandez, it was different. We decided quite quickly that we liked Chicharito. He even played for Man United, and hating Man United is one of the most enjoyable past times of this grand nation. But, still, we decided that we liked him. And now, we're happy to see him back in the Premier League.
Perhaps Southampton fans were a little less pleased to see his face as he notched his second goal against them on Saturday. But, most fans, especially those of West Ham persuasion were happy to welcome back Chicharito. We were no different as we sat down to catch up at the adidas Nemeziz Uprising this week, in his new home of London.
Chicharito, good to see you return to the Premier League. How does it feel to be back in England?
Great! I was desperate to come back to this lovely country. It was my first chapter in European football and I had a fantastic four years at my old club Manchester United. I’m now at West Ham and they’ve given me a really warm welcome since I first started talking to them. So yeah, I’m really happy to be back and I have a big commitment to all the people that have put their trust in me. Hopefully I can make the fans really happy.
You must be keen for the season to get into full swing?
Yeah of course. I answered a similar question in my first press conference at Old Trafford and my answer is still the same – I’m living my dream. I honestly have so much to be happy about, I’m playing in the best league in the world in my opinion. I’m now at one of the most historic teams in London and I’m looking forward to seeing how London compares to life in Manchester. London is such an amazing city and I’m so excited to live here. West Ham have put so much confidence into me, so the only thing I need to do is repay them on the pitch.
Are you the type of person that likes to get out and explore the culture of the city?
I do, yes. But only the normal stuff, I don’t want to be out exploring all the time. I’m here to work. The main priority is to stay as healthy and fit as I can, I need to recover perfectly because the rhythm of this league is so intense, and that’s one of the things I love so much about playing in England. There’s no winter break, you play non-stop from August to May and I love that.
Did you miss football when you had winter breaks in other countries?
It is what it is, and I always love to play. In my last two years in Germany we had quite a large break over Christmas. You would have almost two weeks of holidays. That was a good thing, but if you were in form you were eager to keep playing the games. Also, if you weren’t in form, you were eager to put things right so it could be frustrating. It’s such a big opportunity to play here, so if we have fixtures on Boxing Day and New Years Eve then I’m happy.
You've started well. You scored two on Saturday at Southampton. Can you explain that feeling of scoring?
No one believes me when I say this but I don’t want to get used to scoring goals. I always want to chase that feeling of scoring a goal as it’s such a motivation. I love to help my team and I still get that buzz whether it’s me who scores or a team mate. I was really happy to score twice [against Southampton] on Saturday. Goals do give you confidence, there’s no doubt about that, but they mean nothing if you don’t win. I’m most happy when I’m playing well and we’re winning.
The ball drops to you and you’re through on goal. How do you describe the rush of adrenalin?
It’s an amazing feeling, but I train to make that feeling normal. To not get too excited and to do the job of scoring. Maybe it’s different if a defender finds himself through on goal, but for strikers we must keep calm and expect to be through on goal. If you think about it too much then you begin to doubt yourself. You have to trust your instincts and don’t overthink it, that’s what’s important for strikers. Sometimes you miss, sometimes you score. But, that’s why we love football so much, it’s so unpredictable. Mistakes happen, but they’re what makes football exciting.
You're working with adidas these days. What's that like? You can tell us...
They will do everything to make me comfortable. If I have a certain request for my boots then they see to it straight away. I’m wearing the Nemeziz now and it’s such a great mix of boots. It’s such an interesting design and it works perfectly. That’s what I love about adidas, they don’t stop creating and you can never predict what’s next.
The Nemeziz Uprising event is about street football. What are your memories of playing as a kid?
I used to play a lot of street football with my cousins at home and my friends at school. I’d play with my neighbours outside my home, too. If there was enough kids for a game, you’d play. Wherever you were you would always somehow involve a makeshift goal and find some sort of street pitch. As kids we were great at finding a space to play.
In Mexico I had that culture of going out top play on the street as soon as you got home from school. Maybe the times have changed a bit now and kids spend more time indoors. I still remember now trying to rush through my homework because I could see my friends playing football in the street outside my home.
Javier Hernandez was talking to us at the adidas Nemeziz Uprising Event in London.
