LA Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney cautioned Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez after the Mexican striker revealed his injury status ahead of the team’s first match of the season.
While hosting a live stream on Twitch, Chicharito began answering questions about his health and involvement with the team following an early exit from training with a hamstring injury: “Am I going to play in Dallas? No, I’m still recovering from my injury. I’m going to be between 2 to 5 more weeks out because we have to be very careful with the recovery to avoid relapses.”
Vanney was not pleased with his transparency, adding though it was not breaking news, the player should not be addressing certain questions on an open forum.
“I think at the end of the day, players sometimes get out in front of it and want to let fans and other people know how they’re doing. But ultimately there is a way and a time and a place to give that, because it’s also about the opposition, game management, game prep, all those kinds of things,” Vanney said at a press conference.
“It’s not earth shattering in this situation, but in different circumstances these things could be very important information that you give to the other team or the opposition that you don’t necessarily want to be doing.”
As now confirmed by Chicharito, he will remain sidelined for two to five with the hamstring injury. Last season, Chicharito scored 18 goals in 32 games to propel the Galaxy to the Western Conference quarterfinals before falling to LAFC. Vanney will need to depend on Efrain Alvarez, Dejan Joveljic and Riqui Puig as the Mexican striker nears a return.
But it seems the Galaxy will struggle without Chicharito, as they kicked off the 2023 season with a 1-3 loss to FC Dallas at Toyota Stadium on Saturday. The team returns to the field on Saturday when visiting Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park.
