Javier Hernandez believes Louis van Gaal is still capable of turning Manchester Uniteds fortunes around - despite being told he was surplus to requirements by the Dutchman. The Mexican striker has taken the Bundesliga by storm this season since leaving Old Trafford for Bayer Leverkusen in September.Hernandez was named Bundesliga player of the month three consecutive times in November, December and January and has scored 16 goals in 25 league games so far this season. In contrast, United have struggled in front of goal and are currently in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification as they trail both Arsenal and Manchester City by four points with five games to play in the race for the top four. Hernandez has scored 16 league goals for Bayer Leverkusen this season Many would forgive Hernandez for harbouring resentment towards Van Gaal for the manner in which he was forced to leave Old Trafford.But the 27-year-old still respects the beleaguered United manager and says he can guide the club back to the summit of English football if he is given more time.He is a really good manager to be honest, Hernandez said, speaking exclusively to Sky Sports News HQ. He has his own ways like all the managers in the world. Magnificent Seven Games that rescued Louis van Gaal You will not find the new Sir Alex Ferguson in the next 50 or 100 years because he was unique. He was special.Van Gaal can do it but in football, time and results are going to speak about if he is the main man or if he is not.After being loaned out to Real Madrid during Van Gaals first season in charge, Hernandez was told by the Dutchman that Wayne Rooney would be his first-choice striker and his chances in the United first team would be severely limited if he stayed. Hernandez says Van Gaal told him that his chances of playing for Man Utd were very hard While Hernandez has scored freely for Leverkusen, United have struggled in front of goal and are on course to shatter their record for lowest goals scored in a Premier League season.The Red Devils have managed just 40 goals from their 33 games so far, while their previous low of 58 goals was set in 2004/05.Anthony Martial is Uniteds top scorer in the league with eight goals while Rooney is second with seven. Their combined total of 15 league goals is one less than Hernandez has managed for Leverkusen.Given how the season has gone for both parties, many United fans have questioned the decision to sell Hernandez but he says it was made clear to him that he was no longer wanted at Old Trafford.He just told me that my chances to play would be very hard, Hernandez said. I appreciate that he was very honest since the beginning.When I left, he told me my chances and my opportunities were going to be less because his main striker was going to be Wayne Rooney.If he wasnt fit for example, I was going to play but when he was ready he would play. Also See: Rashford can make Utd history Race for the top four LVG unhappy despite win Rooneys impressive return Avalanche Jerseys 2021 . Scott won the Australian PGA last week in his first event in Australia since winning the U.S. Masters in April. American Matt Kuchar, ahead by two strokes with four to play and even with Scott with one to go, double-bogeyed the 18th after taking two shots to get out of a bunker. Avalanche Jerseys China . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. https://www.cheapavalanche.com/ . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Fake Avalanche Jerseys . -- Teemu Selanne scored the first goal of his 22nd NHL season, and the Anaheim Ducks extended the best start in franchise history with their fifth straight victory, 3-2 over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. I want to go back. Back to the summer of 2016. Life seemed...simpler.Except in the NBA, where matters were decidedly tumultuous.Free agency, fueled by television loot, became a nouveau riche drunken spending spree. The high amount of player movement shifted power across both conferences. It also reshuffled the statistical deck in fantasy.Per example? Kevin Durant to the Warriors affected production across three teams: Golden State, Oklahoma City (Russell Westbrooks usage rate accelerates over 40) and Dallas (Harrison Barnes had to land somewhere.)Al Horford, Dwyane Wade, Jeff Teague, Jeremy Lin, George Hill, Chandler Parsons and Derrick Rose decamped. Nicolas Batum, Marc Gasol and Bradley Beal stayed put. (But a player staying can have just as much fantasy impact.) Then you had teams like the Wizards who whiffed after hoarding cap space and were forced to hand more minutes to in-house options (the rise of Otto Porter).Then we logged several coaching changes.New coaches installed fantasy-friendly new systems (Luke Walton in Los Angeles) and shifted players into new roles (Mike DAntoni shifting James Harden to point guard is -- easily -- one of the biggest fantasy position switches of the past 10 years.)Speaking of Harden? All of this offseason tumult manufactured another fantasy by-product. A metric ton of statistical weight shifted to the backcourt.Peruse the ESPN Player Rater. Six point guards occupy the top 10. Four fully fantasy-qualified shooting guards sit in the top 12.NBA backcourts: decidedly en fuego.Its going to be a tough slog for any duo to top the 34.89 combined player rater points Stephen Curry and Klay Thompsons threw down in 2015-16. But all of the new combinations of rotations and systems is producing surplus of elite backcourts.Lets take the tour through fantasys highest-octane backcourt pairings.1a. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors (27.09 points)Durants arrival mandated that Curry-Thompson was getting dented. And Thompson did require an early season swoon (lets call it a transitional period), where he hit only 3-of-28 3-pointers. But Thompson has recovered with a vengeance, including December 5ths still-shocking 60-point outburst.Despite Durants presence, Thompsons 3-point attempts have only fallen off by .3 attempts a night (8.1 to 7.8). And while it may take awhile for Thompsons 3-point percentage to fully recover from that 3-of-28, I expect it to push back toward the .400 mark within the month.By the end of December, Golden State could employ four top-25 fantasy players.1b. Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers (27.02 points)Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollums combined 27.02 player rater points puts them in a virtual tie with Curry-Thompson. Which means theyre on pace to become one of the great single-season one-two punches in fantasy history.Lillard-McCollum feasts on possession. Their combined usage rate is 57.8; almost equal to the rest of Portlands starting five.Lillard-McCollum is the most balanced of the pairings on this list. The other groupings mainly pair a lead alpha PG with a very good but supporting SG. But Lillard and McCollum are both top-12 players. They both supply elite production in key areas (points scored, 3-pointers). Lillards plus-assist production is balanced by McCollums plus-field goal percentage.An area that doesnt attract as much discussion? Free throw production. Both players hover right around 90 percent from the line. And theyre meeting their efficiency with volume. Lillard is averaging a ccareer-high 8.dddddddddddd0 attempts per game...a stunning average for a player that shoots so many 3s. By comparison, McCollum only averages 3.4 free throw attempts per game (although still a career high).3. James Harden and Eric Gordon, Houston Rockets (24.97 points)This should really be about the pairing of Mike DAntoni and James Harden. In previous stops, DAntoni made fantasy stars out of less heralded players like Boris Diaw and Jeremy Lin. Hes turned All-Stars like Steve Nash and Shawn Marion into fantasy superstars. But DAntoni is blasting Harden into the stratosphere.Despite the transition to point guard, Harden is still equaling or scraping his career highs in points per game, 3-pointers and free throws. Now hes supplementing those marks with 11.6 assists and 7.7 rebounds a game.Eye dropping stuff, but I really want to talk about Eric Gordon.Because to date, Gordon is doing something he hasnt done in a half-decade: hes staying on the court. Hes averaging a career high in 3-pointers (3.6 per game). Hes averaging more points (17.3) than he has at any other point since the injuries hit.And hes doing all of this season as a sixth man.Despite coming off the bench and only averaging 30.8 minutes per night, Gordon is playing his way into consideration for most improved player and sixth man of the year.Mike DAntoni: as a fantasy coach, hes the GOAT.4. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors (22.43 points)Lowry and DeRozan are known as two of fantasys streakier producers. But so far this season, theyve succeeded at picking each other up when then other guard is in a slump.Kyle Lowry was a little slow out of the gate. His first couple weeks of the season sported Halloween-appropriate shooting lines such as 3-of-13, 5-of-16, 4-of-15, and 6-of-20. Which only set the stage for DeRozan to show off all the summertime work hed put into his midrange game.Each clunker from Lowry was supplemented by 30-point-plus clinic by DeRozan. DeRozan eclipsed 30 in eight of his first 10 games...and only hit five 3-pointers during that span. DeRozan continues to be one the most 3-point averse shooting guards in the NBA.And it doesnt matter. Because like Lillard, DeRozan is getting to the free throw line at a career clip (9.2 per game). DeRozans boffo free throw production is invaluable insurance for the periods where his jump shot isnt falling. Hes also supplementing the scoring with career highs in rebounds, steals and assists.While Lowrys production has recovered, DeRozans elevated across-the-board numbers is one of the less heralded fantasy stories of 2016-17. If DeRozan ever added a 3-point shot, hed be...Damian Lillard.5. Chris Paul and J.J. Redick, Los Angeles Clippers (21.06 points)Chris Paul continues to play at such a high level that it doesnt require more than replacement-level SG production to meld a top-5 combo.For fantasy purposes, Redick is elite in 3-pointers, and merely very good-to-average everywhere else. But his shooting efficiency, both from the 3-point line (43.8 percent) and free throw line (92.1 percent) combine to give Redick a secret fantasy weapon: true shooting percentage. His 62.9 percent clip is top 10 in the NBA.The rest of the top eight:6. Russell Westbrook and Victor Oladipo, Oklahoma City Thunder (19.59 points)7. Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, Chicago Bulls (19.45 points)8. John Wall and Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards (16.68 points) ' ' '