West Ham United were held to a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, with Mark Noble’s opener cancelled out by a Wilfried Zaha equaliser.
The Hammers played all the football in the first half but could not hold out as the hosts improved after the break.
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini opted to keen Javier Hernandez in the starting XI as the side’s lone striker, with Marko Arnautovic on the bench.
The Austrian is returning from an injury, while speculation over his long-term future at the club has alienated him among a section of the Hammers supporter base, as the Austrian striker has shown more interest in Euro 2020 qualification and engineering a move away from the club than actually playing for the team that pays his salary.
Hernandez was also linked with a January exit from the London club, but the Mexican has generally conducted himself more professionally than his West Ham team mate.
Trusted by Pellegrini to start the game, Chicharito put in an industrious display and showed no shortage of work rate, but spurned chances to score.
The West Ham fans took to Twitter to express their thoughts on the striker’s performance, with a mixed bag in relation to reactions.
Some feel that Hernandez is not up to the task and should be replaced by Arnautovic in the next game, while other praised him for his industry – here are the best tweets.
https://twitter.com/StevehWHU/status/1094335793567547396
Hernandez did nothing as per
— Ibby (@ibbywhu) February 9, 2019
Both strikers didn't do much but Hernandez had a very good chance 1st half.
Just ain't good enough
We need to get a proper striker in the summer.
— Jones ☆ 🎮 YouTube⚡(Born A Baller) (@RockyWhu) February 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/BenMcKeever_WHU/status/1094261474405634050
Really struggling to be the team controlling games with this lineup lately. Nasri and Arnie back in for Snoddy and Chicha for the Fulham game imo. #coyi
— Matt T (@jondahlsamba) February 9, 2019
If Arnautovic was in the chances Chicha was in and wasted that were created by Anderson we would've been comfortably up by half time
— Alan Rzepa (@alanrzepa) February 9, 2019
Hernandez is quality#WHU
— Ryan Fossett. (@Ryan_Fossett) February 9, 2019
Hernandez deserves to start. Tbf he played well in the first half. Today should suit him more
— Stevie WHU Sizzle 🫧 ⚒ (@TheSullis) February 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/CoyiTony/status/1094262398305878016
https://twitter.com/whu_boulcott/status/1094319989568536578