[Redo91]

Why do people keep saying that we will have to pay £44 million to sign him permanently? Wasn't it widely reported when the deal was done that if we take up the option to sign him the £6 million loan fee will be deducted from the £44 million? £38 million ain't a bad price to pay for a world class striker who will still be in his 20's.

 

[Sir A1ex]

Out of curiosity what made you think that ? You are not the only one who thought that and even Ballague described him like that when he is closer to a Lewandowski type of striker.

I thought this too. I guess it's just down to his excellent goalscoring record. Which is a bit dumb when you look at the two players in Spain who are breaking every record going!

 

[Jammydodger7]

Deserved more from his cameo today. Looked threatening at every turn.

Was impressive alright! hopefully he'll get more time tomorrow!

 

[SteveJ]

It's his unselfishness & intelligence/awareness that have impressed me. I fully expected such a big-money signing to feel so much pressure that he'd be shooting too frequently in order to get on the scoresheet...however, he always plays a teammate in (if it's the right thing to do at that time); Cantona-like.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Out of curiosity what made you think that ? You are not the only one who thought that and even Ballague described him like that when he is closer to a Lewandowski type of striker.

I thought this too. I guess it's just down to his excellent goalscoring record. Which is a bit dumb when you look at the two players in Spain who are breaking every record going!

I thought the same. I think it's because of stats in one of the articles about him when we signed him high-lighting how little get gets involved in the build-up. Can't remember which article exactly. Maybe something by Sid Lowe? That and his lack of assists.

Whatever, I've been really impressed and pleased by his link-up play in his cameos so far.

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

Question of the day. Will he start tonight or not? I think not considerings RvP's goal this weekend, unless Rooney is out for sure.

 

[Sam]

Question of the day. Will he start tonight or not? I think not considerings RvP's goal this weekend, unless Rooney is out for sure.

Definitely not. He's clearly nowhere near ready for a start.

 

[Barca84]

Question of the day. Will he start tonight or not? I think not considerings RvP's goal this weekend, unless Rooney is out for sure.

I wish he would. Give him 60 minutes at least and hopefully get him on the scoresheet (with a by product also that a goal or two might shut some clowns here up ) RVP can rest his weary legs at the same time so it's a win/win.

 

[Adebesi]

Clearly nowhere near ready for a start seems a bit strong. He came on and did pretty well - for a short period of time admittedly, but its something. Not sure how you can extrapolate from that he's "nowhere near" ready. Nothing is clear when it comes to Falcao's injury.

I reckon he'd be ready if the situation demanded it. Like, if Rooney was judged unfit to play. But if we have all the strikers to choose from its a long shot Id say. I hope he gets a half.

 

[Rado_N]

Definitely not. He's clearly nowhere near ready for a start.

On what basis in he "clearly nowhere near" ready?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It's a little bit strong but he hadn't played in ages before the Hull game and, by all accounts, has only just returned to full training last week. Then there's this issue about him possibly not being fully match fit at any point this season. I think Van Gaal could start him in a crisis but would say there's no chance of him starting tonight, assuming Rooney and RvP are both fit.

 

[Dan_F]

Did we make a mistake putting an exact fee in the terms of the loan. Even if he scored 30 goals for us I highly doubt Monaco could demand more than 44 million for him.
If he has a relatively quiet second half of the season and scores 10 goals, then surely we could have asked for the price to be more like 30 million?

 

[Rado_N]

I'm of the opinion that starting him, even if it is with the intention of taking him off at HT, would be more useful to both him and the team than bringing him on for the final 20 minutes. Especially if the final 20 minutes are spent seeing out a game that is for all intents and purposes already over.

Giving him the opportunity to play a decent stint whilst the team is in full attack mode will help get him past any rustiness issues a lot faster.

 

[Carlsen19]

I'd personally prefer to see him start and maybe play a half/60 minutes rather than 20 minutes towards the end when the rest of the players are knackered.

Edit: What @Rado_N said.

 

[waza7111]

What makes me think he will start tonight is that van Gaal said yesterday "he needs match rhythm". You don't get match rhythm by playing 20 minutes. It usually takes an hour or more.

 

[Brightonian]

I'd personally prefer to see him start and maybe play a half/60 minutes rather than 20 minutes towards the end when the rest of the players are knackered.

Decent shout.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I'm of the opinion that starting him, even if it is with the intention of taking him off at HT, would be more useful to both him and the team than bringing him on for the final 20 minutes. Especially if the final 20 minutes are spent seeing out a game that is for all intents and purposes already over.

Giving him the opportunity to play a decent stint whilst the team is in full attack mode will help get him past any rustiness issues a lot faster.

Not sure I agree. The way we play we're more likely to create chances later on in the game, after we've tired them out with all the possession Van Gaal wants from his team. Purely from the likelihood of scoring, it makes more sense to give him the last 30 minutes than the first 30.

That said, the main reason to never start a player who you don't think can last 90 minutes is the fact you're using up one of your substitutions before a ball has been kicked. A couple of injuries later and we're fecked. A crazy risk to take for an upside that's, at best, debatable.

On a side note, RvP has scored every time he's played Stoke in a United shirt (4 times). 11 goals in 10 games against them overall. And he's just got a monkey off his back with the screamer against Hull. Then we have Rooney in the middle of one of his hot streaks. If fit and available I just don't see Van Gaal dropping either of them. In fact, I'd say there's close to zero chance of that happening.

I guess he could drop Rooney back into midfield but that would mean dropping Hererra, Fellaini or Carrick and (for various different reasons) I think that would be a very bad idea.

 

[Adebesi]

I guess the advantage of starting him, rather than giving him the last 20 minutes, is you get more of a sense about exactly how far along he is. You never know, he might still be going strong after an hour. He might last 70 minutes. Or he might be spent after 30. Bringing him on for the last 20-30 mins of the game wont tell you that.

 

[Rado_N]

Not sure I agree. The way we play we're more likely to create chances later on in the game, after we've tired them out with all the possession Van Gaal wants from his team. Purely from the likelihood of scoring, it makes more sense to give him the last 30 minutes than the first 30.

That said, the main reason to never start a player who you don't think can last 90 minutes is the fact you're using up one of your substitutions before a ball has been kicked. A couple of injuries later and we're fecked. A crazy risk to take for an upside that's, at best, debatable.

The using up a sub thing is a fair point, but I don't agree with the POV that he'd be more likely to score in the final 30. I have absolutely no stats to back this up, but watching the game at weekend it felt like by the time he got on the pitch we'd reduced our intent by about 60%.

If we brought him on for the final 30 minutes and it was still 0-0 then I'd agree with you, but I just think giving him the chance from the beginning would be better.

On a side note, RvP has scored every time he's played Stoke in a United shirt (4 times). 11 goals in 10 games against them overall. And he's just got a monkey off his back with the screamer against Hull. Then we have Rooney in the middle of one of his hot streaks. If fit and available I just don't see Van Gaal dropping either of them. In fact, I'd say there's close to zero chance of that happening.

I guess he could drop Rooney back into midfield but that would mean dropping Hererra, Fellaini or Carrick and (for various different reasons) I think that would be a very bad idea.

RvP did score a screamer, but if we're honest he was pretty poor aside from that and the headed effort. Not that that will likely matter, as he seems to be the first name on the team sheet, so you're probably right that he's nailed on to start.

 

[Rado_N]

I guess the advantage of starting him, rather than giving him the last 20 minutes, is you get more of a sense about exactly how far along he is. You never know, he might still be going strong after an hour. He might last 70 minutes. Or he might be spent after 30. Bringing him on for the last 20-30 mins of the game wont tell you that.

That's also true.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I guess the advantage of starting him, rather than giving him the last 20 minutes, is you get more of a sense about exactly how far along he is. You never know, he might still be going strong after an hour. He might last 70 minutes. Or he might be spent after 30. Bringing him on for the last 20-30 mins of the game wont tell you that.

Not sure a competitive game is the place to be assessing stamina. They'll have a good enough idea from bleep tests and the like anyway. They'll still need to learn about sharpness and how close he is to the pace of a PL fixture - which you can't really mimic in training - but don't need to start a game to do this.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

I'd start him as well. Stoke at home should really be a game we are winning without any trouble, and even if we know he may need to be taken off at the hour mark, I think it will benefit the player more to play 60 minutes of meaningful football, than possibly playing 20 minutes of killing off the game as we did against Hull. By the time Falcao came on, the game was done, and it seemed clear we were just seeing it out sensibly. He had one good chance, but compare that to the first half when we were seeing a lot of possession in the opposing half which Falcao could have been a part of.

If we were playing a top side, then I'd be a bit more reserved, but it's Stoke at home. Start him, and give him more opportunity to get a goal. I think he's desperate to score and to build some momentum.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The using up a sub thing is a fair point, but I don't agree with the POV that he'd be more likely to score in the final 30. I have absolutely no stats to back this up, but watching the game at weekend it felt like by the time he got on the pitch we'd reduced our intent by about 60%.

If we brought him on for the final 30 minutes and it was still 0-0 then I'd agree with you, but I just think giving him the chance from the beginning would be better.

I actually don't know the stats about when we score the most goals but my gut feel is that they tend to occur more oftern towards the end of games. Was definitely the case with Fergie. Mind you, under Fergie we were famous for never taking our foot off the gas and really putting the boot in once the other team were beaten. Van Gaal seems a wee bit more willing to hold onto what we have so it's a fair point that if we have a comfortable lead the ball will spend a lot of time being passed round the back. Of course, we may not have a comfortable lead in the last half hour. In that scenario, bringing a fresh and hungry striker of Falcao's quality off the bench would be a great option!

It's a tricky one but I just don't see the sense in starting a striker with any doubts over his match fitness when we've got quality alternatives. Agree with you about RvP but he's held onto his place after much worse performances than the one against Hull so would be incredible if he ended up on the bench after such a cathartic goal.

Having said all that, Rooney might be injured. Which makes for a very straightforward decision.

 

[Sir A1ex]

I guess the advantage of starting him, rather than giving him the last 20 minutes, is you get more of a sense about exactly how far along he is. You never know, he might still be going strong after an hour. He might last 70 minutes. Or he might be spent after 30. Bringing him on for the last 20-30 mins of the game wont tell you that.

I agree. It ggoes against conventional wisdom, but at worst you'd probably get a half out of him. And other than if we get unlucky with injuries, there's nothing worse about playing him for 45 minutes then somebody else for 45 minutes than bringing him on for 20 minutes.

I've always thought that half-time substituions are an under-used tactic generally. Presuming you make it to half time with no injuries, then if you have a swap in mind, it's the ideal time to make it in terms of getting the maximum fitness level out of both players.

 

[bishblaize]

The using up a sub thing is a fair point, but I don't agree with the POV that he'd be more likely to score in the final 30. I have absolutely no stats to back this up, but watching the game at weekend it felt like by the time he got on the pitch we'd reduced our intent by about 60%.

I totally agree, and it was the same vs QPR. Sure, occasionally a game will turn into an exhibition match at the end and you rack up lots of goals, but more often than that the game goes flat once you're 3 goals up with 20 mins to go and it just rolls to a conclusion. To make a proper judgement about Falcao we need him playing during that period of greatest intensity, when the team are trying to make the breakthrough and all your A-teamers are playing at their top level.

 

[SalfordRed1960]

I'm of the opinion that starting him, even if it is with the intention of taking him off at HT, would be more useful to both him and the team than bringing him on for the final 20 minutes. Especially if the final 20 minutes are spent seeing out a game that is for all intents and purposes already over.

Giving him the opportunity to play a decent stint whilst the team is in full attack mode will help get him past any rustiness issues a lot faster.

I agree with this. From a motivation point of view it will also keep RVP on his toes, as he won't be a guaranteed starter.

 

[stepic]

weird artictle in the metro this morning:

"When Radamel Falcao signed on loan for United on September 1, his stock was high. One of the world's finest strikers, he was well on his way to joining an elite band of world-class netbusters including Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo..."

they seem to have forgotten the whole knee surgery thing completely.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I totally agree, and it was the same vs QPR. Sure, occasionally a game will turn into an exhibition match at the end and you rack up lots of goals, but more often than that the game goes flat once you're 3 goals up with 20 mins to go and it just rolls to a conclusion. To make a proper judgement about Falcao we need him playing during that period of greatest intensity, when the team are trying to make the breakthrough and all your A-teamers are playing at their top level.

This is all true and there's 25 league games left to make a judgement. If there's any doubt at all over his ability to last the full 90, though, is it worth the risk of starting a player who you don't trust to finish the game so you can start that judgement process one game sooner?

 

[Sam]

On what basis in he "clearly nowhere near" ready?

He's played 15 minutes football in about a month?

 

[bishblaize]

This is all true and there's 25 league games left to make a judgement. If there's any doubt at all over his ability to last the full 90, though, is it worth the risk of starting a player who you don't trust to finish the game so you can start that judgement process one game sooner?

Nothing wrong with starting with a player you know will have to come off before the end of 90 minutes, it happens all the time. Best way to build fitness.

That's different to starting with a player carrying an injury where, if it goes, they'll be out for an extended period. In that case I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Roboc7]

There is a big difference between looking lively for 20 mins in a game that was effectively over and being ready to start so I think he should be on the bench for another couple of games and then he will hopefully be ready to start games over Christmas when we will need to rotate.

Now that we finally have some momentum and RVP has hopefully got some confidence back I don’t see the logic in taking the risk of playing Falcao just to get him fit.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Time for him to show up with the busy fixture list coming up for the next couple months. If he can score some important goals, the decision to buy becomes easier. I don't think Van Gaal will take the gamble of playing van Persie 3 times in a week.

 

[bosnian_red]

I think he could be in with a shout to start vs Southampton, but that depends on RvP's form today. If not then, then he'll probably start the week after. Today was always going to be too soon for a start.

 

[#07]

Van Gaal's management of Falcao has been consistent with his demands that players recapture match rhythm before getting back into the team. He's had Herrera and Evans playing reserve football because he feels players need to be match fit to start. Falcao is not injured, you could see that on Saturday. However, he has not enough football to get sharp. Van Gaal is nursing him back into the side slowly but surely, and his faith in him is clear from the fact he hasn't forced him to get minutes in the U21s. He'll get his chance, our December fixture list is too packed for him not to.

 

[sizzling sausages]

I'd like to see both Van Persie and Falcao play a half tonight tbh. Both would be in decent condition for Southampton then and it give Van Gaal the best chance of judging which of the two looks to be in better shape and form.

 

[Borys]

It’s frustrating to see so little of him. He hasn’t even played 300 minutes for us so far, and it’s December. I really hope he becomes a vital part of the team in the upcoming months, I rate him highly.

I love this banner at the top of the page.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He's looked class whenever he's played. Looks like doing something purposeful and incisive everytime he gets the ball. Shame he's featured so little.

 

[wr8_utd]

As happy as I am to see Wilson play, it's getting really frustrating not seeing Falcao start. Doubt he'll start vs Southampton either.

 

[Sam]

As happy as I am to see Wilson play, it's getting really frustrating not seeing Falcao start. Doubt he'll start vs Southampton either.

He'll start when he's fit enough

 

[Sied]

It's disappointing but it's obviously for his own good. No one wants to see him rushed back only to pick up another injury. We'll just have to be patient, but at least Wilson gets his chance in the meantime.