Return of the Little Pea

Javier 'Chicarito' Hernandez returned to first team duties during the game on Monday night against Spurs. With I imagine everybody involved in the club being ecstatic to see the little pea back to full fitness....except perhaps Danny Welbeck & Dimitar Berbatov.

With Welbeck, easily being the most impressive striker on the pre-season tour, with some very strong performances. He has been rewarded early this season, earning two starts in the Premier League ahead of Berbatov, proving himself worthy by scoring a goal & creating an excellent assist in the game against Tottenham on Monday night. I know its only been a few games but I feel we now need to stop considering him as a young reserve getting a run out, he is a fully pledges first team member & should be fighting for his place and in contention for starting place throughout the season. Though with the return of Chicarito this may be easier said than done! In the second half of last season it became clear that his partnership with Rooney moved him above Berba in the pecking order at United. It will be interesting to see if Hernandez is now put in along with Rooney for the Arsenal game on Sunday, or will Fergie stick with Welbeck, perhaps introducing Hernandez slowly due to his lack of pre-season.

Then the next step we look at has to be does this force Berbatov to fourth in the queue? If it does it would be a crazy outcome, the season after he shares the golden boot in the Premier League, he falls to a bit-part roll by the start of the next season. To be honest, I like Berbatov, but will always prefer to see Welbeck and particularly Hernandez starting. I like the youth, pace and the hard work of these two and feel it serves the team better than Berba's more 'relaxed' style. Dimitar has undoubted skill and when he's confident & on form it is amazing to watch. Unfortunately, it doesn't really lend itself to the wide attacking, pass and move style of united when we play 4-4-2. Having said that, SAF could turn around and hand Berbatov the start against Arsenal, he certainly has the ability to hold the ball up more than the two young strikers, so depending on tactics and how the manager feels the game will pan out Berba could even get the nod. SAF spoke about the problem in an interview stating;

"Chicharito came back on Monday which gives me a tremendous problem for picking a side, But that’s the kind of problem we want" Sir Alex Ferguson

Regardless of who starts on Sunday, it is great to have the little pea back in the mix and I personally believe that he will be Rooney's partner in attack this season once the staff are confident he is fully fit and prepared! He himself seems to be as keen as ever, speaking to MUTV about being back in the first team squad he spoke of how difficult it was not playing football for two months & had this to say about the game against Spurs;

"It was great to play again, unbelievable" Chicharito

Chicharito won't be the only player fit to return to action this weekend, with SAF confirming that Darren Fletcher is ready to return to first team duties and will be in consideration for the side vs. Arsenal on Sunday. More good news for United fans and usually we would see the Scot returning to being the first name on the team sheet, but it could be much harder for him to break-back into the set-up with Anderson & Cleverley playing so well in the centre of the park. It will be another interesting selection problem for the manager, let the youthful pairing gain more experience together on the pitch, or bring back in Fletch who imo over the past few years has been our strongest CM. 

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