[MarkC]

You can tell as soon as this guy leaves and goes somewhere is he will be banging them in for fun. No doubt meeting us again somewhere down the line.

I think you can see from the start he has the problem a lot of players get coming back from such a major injury in football. It is having the confidence in your body to really commit yourself to situations he seems like he is still trying to protect himself at times. Needs to get over the psychological barrier which I cannot see him doing until the pressure is off him a little which will only be if we do sign him.

Combine coming back from an injury like this and going straight into a misfiring United team creating a lack of chances is never going to be easy. Personally think with most of his chances you can't fault him he hits the target unlike many and when his luck is in can see him being deadly.

 

[Paolo Di Canio]

And people are still calling him unlucky Poor unlukcy Falcao. How dare a 'keeper try to save any of his shots!

He's not good enough. Plain and simple.

bloody hell mate fair enough if hes missing sitter after sitter but hes feeding off scraps that much is clear, yeah he could of put one away against Spurs but we arent feeding him with anything but high crosses and over hit passes

 

[.Rossi]

He's a world class striker, playing in a team that makes him look hapless and useless.

He was fed one good ball tonight after 65 mins.....And their keeper made a fantastic save.
Other then that, he was feeding off die cross after dire cross.

Not his fault....What you want him to do?! Go into midfield, dribble past a few players, feed it out to the wing and score a bicycle kick and repeat?!

He's a striker.....The team should be feeding him

 

[Nighteyes]

bloody hell mate fair enough if hes missing sitter after sitter but hes feeding off scraps that much is clear, yeah he could of put one away against Spurs but we arent feeding him with anything but high crosses and over hit passes

He could have also scored against QPR and against Cambridge.

Stop trotting out "He's feeding off scraps" every time he misses chances. He's been shit so far and yet people continue to blame anyone and everyone but the Falcao himself.

 

[Nighteyes]

He's a world class striker, playing in a team that makes him look hapless and useless.

He was fed one good ball tonight after 65 mins.....And their keeper made a fantastic save.
Other then that, he was feeding off die cross after dire cross.

Not his fault....What you want him to do?! Go into midfield, dribble past a few players, feed it out to the wing and score a bicycle kick and repeat?!

He's a striker.....The team should be feeding him

No, he's not. Maybe he was at one point but that's entirely irrelevant now.

 

[DarkXaero]

Anyone complaining about his performance today is just basing it on his entire season so far, rather than just tonight. Isolate the perception of his overall season so far, and everyone here would be saying that he had absolutely feck all service to work with in this match..

 

[kouroux]

He's at the wrong club to play after such an injury. For a striker like him, he needed to play for a team providing several chances per matches in order to get his shooting boots back. Now he knows there isn't much creativity so the only chance he gets, he has this crazy pressure to score from it.

 

[Oo0AahCantona]

None of our strikers have had ANY sort of the service you would expect from a top european club. if robin van persie and radamel falcao are struggling to even get 2 or more shots on target in a game, i think its time to look at the service recieved.

you put Falcao or van persie upfront for Liverpool, chelsea, city, southampton etc etc, and they would be rolling in goals.

 

[JUPITER]

None of our strikers have had ANY sort of the service you would expect from a top european club. if robin van persie and radamel falcao are struggling to even get 2 or more shots on target in a game, i think its time to look at the service recieved.

you put Falcao or van persie upfront for Liverpool, chelsea, city, southampton etc etc, and they would be rolling in goals.

Falcao wouldn't be anywhere near the threat that Costa or Aguero are if he was at Chelsea or City. Same at Liverpool and Southampton. He isn't a player cut out for the PL.

He's weak, slow and is easily marked - these are factors that've also contributed to his poor form here thus far. It isn't simply that he's feeding off scraps. In many games he's so easily marked, out-muscled and out ran that it's difficult for the midfield to consistently find him. It works both ways.

If we're saying that we now want forwards who are only any use when they have point perfect passes placed on their feet then we'd be better just bringing Hernandez back from Real Madrid.

Besides, Falcao has had games where he's had plenty of chances created for him, but hasn't scored. His movement is still good and that will get him some goals, but even then he's so easily out-ran and out muscled that he'll never be the danger man of a Costa, Aguero, Sanchez, Rooney etc. At least not in the Prem.

 

[Name Changed]

Falcao thrives on balls being whipped into the box. He barely gets any. He does not thrive on receiving the ball 40 yards from the goal. Yet that's what we seem to want to do. We need to get balls and crosses in particular into the box. Falcao will score goals. I don't know why we don't seem to want to get the best out of him

 

[kafta]

No service at all. Don't think that's even debatable, we're creating no chances.

 

[Firstouch20]

People will continue to blame our world class strikers when our midfield is brain dead. In 90 minutes against a League two side we could only provide one goal scoring opportunity to Falcao. But its our strikers who are crap. Some of you would spend 80 million on a new striker and then sulk about it when he goes on a run of poor goal scoring form because our midfield is too shite to create chances for him.

 

[Roboc7]

Thats true but I dont think his game is dropping deep with back to goal, its playing off the shoulder and arriving late into the box, he got one quality pass all game today which he nearly put away, same against Yeovil too, other than that it was high balls and terrible crosses, Mata and di Maria seem to be the only players who understand the type of balls he wants, I used to be a striker and recieve rubbish over the top balls that were a nightmare to control let alone finish, so I know how frustrating it can be

No it's not his game especially now the injury has taken a lot out of him but I don't think being a poacher is enough for the money involved or even if that is the sort of player we should be trying to sign. To be a top striker in this league I think you have to be more than just a poacher now and sadly he can't offer that, he has arrived in the league 2-3 years too late.

The service does need to be better but if he can't take the ball on the turn or even control it to hold onto it a lot of the time I don't think that is good enough no matter how bd the midfield is at times.

 

[ItsEssexRob]

The trouble is here 50% of people are too unwilling ever to blame players, probably due to fees and previous expectations.

The midfield is supposedly to blame for the strikers, but then when you go to blame the creators its suddenly the formation, as though these changes actually make a player suddenly unable to control a ball or have a good touch. If Falcao was running around all game having zero touches I could understand it, but I see balls played to him that he simply cant reach for pace anymore, he always seems a yard behind, his touch is poor and struggles to protect the ball.

These things arent to do with the service, look at the Atletico vids and tell me all of that was excellent service.

Costa and Sanchez would be perfect fit for this United team right now, even Aguero, because all can do things without needing the ball fed to them from 5 yards out perfectly.

 

[Roboc7]

The trouble is here 50% of people are too unwilling ever to blame players, probably due to fees and previous expectations.

The midfield is supposedly to blame for the strikers, but then when you go to blame the creators its suddenly the formation, as though these changes actually make a player suddenly unable to control a ball or have a good touch. If Falcao was running around all game having zero touches I could understand it, but I see balls played to him that he simply cant reach for pace anymore, he always seems a yard behind, his touch is poor and struggles to protect the ball.

These things arent to do with the service, look at the Atletico vids and tell me all of that was excellent service.

Costa and Sanchez would be perfect fit for this United team right now, even Aguero, because all can do things without needing the ball fed to them from 5 yards out perfectly.

I think that sums it up pretty well, falcao isn't going to just go back to the player he was with better service no doubt he would score more but who wouldn't. The poor first touch, his complete lack of pace, inability to drag defenders out of position, hold the ball up or dribble past players are all issues that aren't going away. He just isn't the player he was and that combined with playing in a very ordinary side just isn't working at all and I hope he doesn't start the next game.

 

[Orton]

The trouble is here 50% of people are too unwilling ever to blame players, probably due to fees and previous expectations.

The midfield is supposedly to blame for the strikers, but then when you go to blame the creators its suddenly the formation, as though these changes actually make a player suddenly unable to control a ball or have a good touch. If Falcao was running around all game having zero touches I could understand it, but I see balls played to him that he simply cant reach for pace anymore, he always seems a yard behind, his touch is poor and struggles to protect the ball.

These things arent to do with the service, look at the Atletico vids and tell me all of that was excellent service.

Costa and Sanchez would be perfect fit for this United team right now, even Aguero, because all can do things without needing the ball fed to them from 5 yards out perfectly.

Hilarious. You really do believe the rubbish you come out with don't you? It's very simple to sit there and say this player or that player would fit in, but reality is each player we have signed is struggling one way or another. If last season you said Falcao and Di Maria would be signing for United you would believe they would be much better. Falcao never was this player you speak of, who dribbles past defenders. He's always been about movement and top class finishing. You can see he's trying harder than anyone else. The whole United team right now is a mess, and none, yes none of our attacking players are able to bail us out right now. That includes PL veterans like Rooney and RVP. Falcao is like a better version of Hernandez. He lost the ball more than most players in la liga. How much did you watch him?

Do you watch all of our games? Did you see Southampton? We didn't create one chance. Did you see Southampton away? We created 1 half chance the whole game and scored 2. Falcao's strength isn't holding the ball up 40 yards away from goal, or running channels to give others space.

 

[bm_5]

I think that sums it up pretty well, falcao isn't going to just go back to the player he was with better service no doubt he would score more but who wouldn't. The poor first touch, his complete lack of pace, inability to drag defenders out of position, hold the ball up or dribble past players are all issues that aren't going away. He just isn't the player he was and that combined with playing in a very ordinary side just isn't working at all and I hope he doesn't start the next game.

For a moment I thought you were describing RVP. In case you haven't noticed, he can't dribble past players, drag defenders out of position or hold up the ball and his pace has all but disappeared.

The trouble is here 50% of people are too unwilling ever to blame players, probably due to fees and previous expectations.

The midfield is supposedly to blame for the strikers, but then when you go to blame the creators its suddenly the formation, as though these changes actually make a player suddenly unable to control a ball or have a good touch. If Falcao was running around all game having zero touches I could understand it, but I see balls played to him that he simply cant reach for pace anymore, he always seems a yard behind, his touch is poor and struggles to protect the ball.

These things arent to do with the service, look at the Atletico vids and tell me all of that was excellent service.

Costa and Sanchez would be perfect fit for this United team right now, even Aguero, because all can do things without needing the ball fed to them from 5 yards out perfectly.

It's not the formation, it's the strategy. You can't ignore the specific talents of your players. The slow pace and steady build up ideal for the 3-5-2 are a terrible fit for most of our offensive players. Dí Maria is much better increasing the pace with ball in feet, not trying to catch it in space behind the defense. Rooney is about the same. Valencia and Young are much better going full speed than trying to dribble from a stand. Shaw and Rafael are about the same. Falcao's real talent is staying right on the edge of the outside trap and beating defenders with short accelerations in the box. That's how he got the 2 chances against QPR (left foot effort in the first half and the header in the second). The other chances we created in that game were when QPR pushed forward and Wilson and Falcao got in behind the defense with pace and space.

 

[Sam]

Falcao thrives on balls being whipped into the box. He barely gets any. He does not thrive on receiving the ball 40 yards from the goal. Yet that's what we seem to want to do. We need to get balls and crosses in particular into the box. Falcao will score goals. I don't know why we don't seem to want to get the best out of him

Januzaj put in about 3 or 4 great crosses yesterday, plus a couple from Blind, and Falcao was nowhere near any of them. The excuses that people keep rolling out for the lad are borderline cult like.

A lack of service, or poor build up play, has absolutely nothing to do with Falcao's, quite clear, physical problems. Never mind his first touch, nor the fact that when he has had chances (and he's had plenty) he's missed most of them. Yet, once again, thats everyone elses fault because he should need 4/5 chances to get his shooting boots on, which kind of defeats the whole argument that he's a 'world class' striker, plus against Spurs he got his 4/5 chances and missed them all.

Just give it up guys, he's a busted flush. Its Shevnchenko and Torres all over again.

 

[kouroux]

Januzaj put in about 3 or 4 great crosses yesterday, plus a couple from Blind, and Falcao was nowhere near any of them. The excuses that people keep rolling out for the lad are borderline cult like.

A lack of service, or poor build up play, has absolutely nothing to do with Falcao's, quite clear, physical problems. Never mind his first touch, nor the fact that when he has had chances (and he's had plenty) he's missed most of them. Yet, once again, thats everyone elses fault because he should need 4/5 chances to get his shooting boots on, which kind of defeats the whole argument that he's a 'world class' striker, plus against Spurs he got his 4/5 chances and missed them all.

Just give it up guys, he's a busted flush. Its Shevnchenko and Torres all over again.

The way I see it is that the service hasn't been great but we've seen enough in terms of controls, shooting and movement to just accept Falcao is a shadow of his former self.

 

[Sam]

The way I see it is that the service hasn't been great but we've seen enough in terms of controls, shooting and movement to just accept Falcao is a shadow of his former self.

Absolutely.

 

[Redo91]

No, he's not. Maybe he was at one point but that's entirely irrelevant now.

Maybe? He was clearly world class for a few years (arguably the best striker in the world). Whether he ever gets back to that level is another matter.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Read something vague about Mendes commenting to La Sexta that "Falcao most likely won't play for United next season. He wished Falcao had worked with Ferguson, Falcao is a player who has to play for 90 minutes, and he himself doesn't understand why he's not playing."

Then he went on to comment that "Falcao will play for a top 7 club in the world next year, not Real Madrid" says Mendes, because "they already have Benzema". Obviously Mendes is a bit of hypocrite, since money equals succes if you look at his business, and he was the one who brought his beloved Falcao to Monaco and made good money off that.

But I don't know how old these quotes are and if it has been discussed to death on here already.

 

[11101]

The way I see it is that the service hasn't been great but we've seen enough in terms of controls, shooting and movement to just accept Falcao is a shadow of his former self.

His movement is as good as I've ever seen it. Control is off but getting better. Finishing is what worries me. I'd have thought that would come back first.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

He's been no worse than Suarez, all the while playing in a less functional, less talented, less creative team. I take it Suarez is shit now, too? This thread is shocking. Should be locked.

 

[Roboc7]

For a moment I thought you were describing RVP. In case you haven't noticed, he can't dribble past players, drag defenders out of position or hold up the ball and his pace has all but disappeared.

RVP has a better touch but I agree he is on the slide and that is what is even more worrying about falcao he is a few years younger and he is on the slide as well and why do we want to add another player like that. thankfully I don't think there is any chance falcao will be here next year whatever the price, he can do a job somewhere else but writing is already on the wall.

 

[kouroux]

His movement is as good as I've ever seen it. Control is off but getting better. Finishing is what worries me. I'd have thought that would come back first.

The movement is good but he lacks that little acceleration which allowed to reach balls before defenders, specially crosses.

 

[Yorkeontop]

The 43m doesnt bother me, based on his pedigree(and we've seen glimpses of that),I would pay the fee. He's born in the same year as Wayne Rooney remember. Its that damn wage packet which scares me off. If things dont work out,we would struggle to offload him. Something like 150k a week I would take, it would be hard to live with the nearly double that he is currently making. Wonder what Woody thinks.

 

[Sammyjunn]

So some with the exaggerating arguements about service, if Falcao can only perform with plenty of service, why not get a mediocre striker, I bet they'd both score sime out of it. He has to offer what RVP offered in his start, if we're concedering buying him, that was a world class striker, creating chances for himself, not many service but banging them in, great hold and link up play, some extra quality, not a poacher who needs the easiest chances to score and has zero use without world class service.

 

[#07]

Being absolutely frank I haven't seen Falcao do very much that Chicharito could not. As of this minute I would question the wisdom on spending £43 million on him.

We need to rebuild our strike force. Van Persie is old, Rooney is not that much younger and besides them we only have Wilson and Chicharito (who is odds on to leave at the end of the season). If we were getting the Falcao of two years ago I would be all for it. However, at the moment he is not playing like his old self.

There are legitimate reasons why Falcao is struggling, service clearly has been a problem with United playing extremely risk averse football lately, but he's also snatching at chances. The composure and coolness in front of goal he has made his name for I don't see. At this minute if someone offered me a choice of Jackson Martinez or Falcao, right now I'd choose Martinez.

 

[soapythecat]

I think he's a great player with years of service to offer, the problem being is that if LvG doesn't know how to use him correctly, or get him firing under his 'philosophy', then it's pointless paying the stupid money to buy him.
I thought his runs and off the ball were excellent yesterday but there is only so much you can do if you aren't getting a decent ball in.
Falcao is currently the least of our problems and we should be happy he is here for now.

 

[Isotope]

He's been no worse than Suarez, all the while playing in a less functional, less talented, less creative team. I take it Suarez is shit now, too? This thread is shocking. Should be locked.

Suarez is younger, coming after 2 great seasons, and never had long-term injury. Also his team doesn't solely depend on him to score goals.

Falcao is the opposite of all that.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

Suarez is younger, coming after 2 great seasons, and never had long-term injury. Also his team doesn't solely depend on him to score goals.

Falcao is the opposite of all that.

Suarez is 28, Falcao is 28. Falcao's had more great seasons than Suarez has had. Falcao always plays with another striker, we don't depend on him solely - hell, I wish we did! I'd love to see him as a lone striker.

Suarez has been so poor for Barcelona, anybody who's watched them will you tell that. Barca fans will you tell as such. And you should see some of the chances he's missed. It doesn't mean he's suddenly turned to shit. Falcao is playing in a fairly dysfunctional team, bereft of any sort of creativity behind him. The almost gleeful assumption that Falcao has lost it is tiresome. Unfortunately I don't think he'll ever get a fair chance of a consistent run in the team, so those shouting "Flop!" will be proved 'right' by default.

Put him in a team where he's the main striker, has a working, creative midfield behind him and I'm certain we'll see a return to his former glory, or at least very close to it.

Don't know what's happened to the font.

 

[Litch]

Suarez is 28, Falcao is 28. Falcao's had more great seasons than Suarez has had. Falcao always plays with another striker, we don't depend on him solely - hell, I wish we did! I'd love to see him as a lone striker.

Suarez has been so poor for Barcelona, anybody who's watched them will you tell that. Barca fans will you tell as such. And you should see some of the chances he's missed. It doesn't mean he's suddenly turned to shit. Falcao is playing in a fairly dysfunctional team, bereft of any sort of creativity behind him. The almost gleeful assumption that Falcao has lost it is tiresome. Unfortunately I don't think he'll ever get a fair chance of a consistent run in the team, so those shouting "Flop!" will be proved 'right' by default.

Put him in a team where he's the main striker, has a working, creative midfield behind him and I'm certain we'll see a return to his former glory, or at least very close to it.

Don't know what's happened to the font.

Stop being so sensible in on the forum. People always need someone to moan about despite the fact that we are playing absolute crap. For me once my striker gets in the right position and keeps hitting the target (a la Mr Cole) he's going to score goals.....

 

[Kraftwerker]

Touch of the Forlans about him.

He's working his balls off, but it's not working out, yet he retains a lot of popularity with the fans.

He'll leave, and bang them in somewhere else and we'll wonder why it didn't happen.

Here's to two goals at Anfield before he leaves!

 

[luckyspurs]

Suarez is 28, Falcao is 28. Falcao's had more great seasons than Suarez has had. Falcao always plays with another striker, we don't depend on him solely - hell, I wish we did! I'd love to see him as a lone striker.

Suarez has been so poor for Barcelona, anybody who's watched them will you tell that. Barca fans will you tell as such. And you should see some of the chances he's missed. It doesn't mean he's suddenly turned to shit. Falcao is playing in a fairly dysfunctional team, bereft of any sort of creativity behind him. The almost gleeful assumption that Falcao has lost it is tiresome. Unfortunately I don't think he'll ever get a fair chance of a consistent run in the team, so those shouting "Flop!" will be proved 'right' by default.

Put him in a team where he's the main striker, has a working, creative midfield behind him and I'm certain we'll see a return to his former glory, or at least very close to it.

Don't know what's happened to the font.

Chances

Falcao's had 20 inside the box in 12 hours; scoring 3.
Suarez's had 22 inside the box in 15 hours; scoring 2.

So actually Falcao's getting 3 good chances a match to Suarez's 2; not a case of blaming supply because he isn't scoring. Could be better supply of course, but it's better than a lot of strikers get.

Creativity

Falcao's created 10 chances; 3 of which were scored.
Suarez's created 28 chances; 7 of which were scored.

Suarez has been massively more creative and become a provider not the person being provided the chances. Di Maria (1 year younger than Suarez) was rated a £60m player for doing the very same.

 

[Brwned]

Touch of the Forlans about him.

He's working his balls off, but it's not working out, yet he retains a lot of popularity with the fans.

He'll leave, and bang them in somewhere else and we'll wonder why it didn't happen.

Here's to two goals at Anfield before he leaves!

Unfortunately that's a very apt comparison.

 

[langster]

inability to drag defenders out of position

You need to watch a little closer if you think that. Falcao is always making runs and pulling players out of position, and he would have scored more IF and WHEN the balls were played to him properly. The trouble is the service he is (or isn't) getting. Admittedly he has been below par and his finishing needs to sharpen a little, but he has been feeding on scraps if anything at all. He got in to two or three goal scoring positions against Southampton only to see other players ignore his run and shoot themselves. RvP in particular could have slid a simple pass for a certain Falcao goal, but chose to shoot himself and miss.

Falcao would do much better playing alongside Rooney up front with Mata at 10 and he would definitely play much better if he was alone up front with fast wingers who could deliver accurate passes and crosses and a clever attacking midfielder like Mata or Rooney behind him controlling play and playing the ball forward to him so he's not always playing with his back to goal. Falcao (like most of our attacking players) is suffering from the system and slow build up play rather than being a completely spent force.

 

[Deleted member 78215]

Chances

Falcao's had 20 inside the box in 12 hours; scoring 3.
Suarez's had 22 inside the box in 15 hours; scoring 2.

So actually Falcao's getting 3 good chances a match to Suarez's 2; not a case of blaming supply because he isn't scoring. Could be better supply of course, but it's better than a lot of strikers get.

Creativity

Falcao's created 10 chances; 3 of which were scored.
Suarez's created 28 chances; 7 of which were scored.

Suarez has been massively more creative and become a provider not the person being provided the chances. Di Maria (1 year younger than Suarez) was rated a £60m player for doing the very same.

Stats or no stats, anybody can see Suarez has been poor. It's one of those things where you have to actually watch the matches, not just reel off numbers from Opta or wherever.

 

[luckyspurs]

You need to watch a little closer if you think that. Falcao is always making runs and pulling players out of position, and he would have scored more IF and WHEN the balls were played to him properly. The trouble is the service he is (or isn't) getting. Admittedly he has been below par and his finishing needs to sharpen a little, but he has been feeding on scraps if anything at all. He got in to two or three goal scoring positions against Southampton only to see other players ignore his run and shoot themselves. RvP in particular could have slid a simple pass for a certain Falcao goal, but chose to shoot himself and miss.

Falcao would do much better playing alongside Rooney up front with Mata at 10 and he would definitely play much better if he was alone up front with fast wingers who could deliver accurate passes and crosses and a clever attacking midfielder like Mata or Rooney behind him controlling play and playing the ball forward to him so he's not always playing with his back to goal. Falcao (like most of our attacking players) is suffering from the system and slow build up play rather than being a completely spent force.

Chances in the box per 90 minutes

5 Aguero
3 Austin, Bony, Costa, Falcao, Pelle
2 Berahino, Ings, Kane, Sanchez

This not getting enough chances stuff is nonsense to cover for poor finishing.

 

[luckyspurs]

Stats or no stats, anybody can see Suarez has been poor. It's one of those things where you have to actually watch the matches, not just reel off numbers from Opta or wherever.

Falcao's been visually poor too and it's visually that people think he's way past his best as much as anything. His touch looks wrong, his movement looks wrong (though less so) and his finishing is weak and being snatched at. Nobody's scared of him the way he's playing; not even League Two centre backs. Goalkeepers have time to react when he tries to beat them.

Suarez is playing a style of football he isn't used to and looking unsure of himself, not being the main focus of the team or allowed to get on the ball as much as he likes. Falcao's playing exactly the style of football he likes, if a slightly less quality version of it than Atletico produced, on the defender's shoulder, and missing chances.