Radamel Falcao | Ducker: Medical passed!

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Brightonian said:
For once, I agree with you. Suarez has been consistently exceptional for a few seasons, whereas Falcao just had one. And not only was Bale's last season better than Neymar's, but Bale's came off the back of a couple in which he was regularly unplayable (adding lots of goals in the second) in a strong league, whereas Neymar's hype has noticeably diminished (as, I can't help but note because I'm a smug dickhead, I always predicted) now that he's not in a league where he regularly gets to play against League Two-level teams in Brazil's various regional and metropolitan competitions.

As you say, the Messi-Ronaldo thing is definitely down to opinion. Although I can't see that there's much doubt that Ronaldo was better last season.
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Glad to hear it. :lol:

Yep, Ronaldo was better last season no doubt but Messi has probably been better going back a bit longer. Both are clearly lab freaks genetically altered for football.

Neymar was good for Brazil in the World Cup and undoubtedly a top talent but he had the crap about his pricetag come up last season and his form dipped. He wasn't awful but he didn't light the league up but I think we'll see him do well in the future, his record for Brazil is excellent.

Bale was ridiculous for us - found it funny when people were saying he'd flop. We were the definition of one man team when he was here, its no wonder we had such a poor season after losing him. He fashioned goals out of absolutely nothing, won us games with screamers from nowhere. Towards the end he was clearly out of gas and carrying an injury yet was still saving us. Brilliant player.
 
Eriksen said:
Sorry but you cannot say Messi is better than Ronaldo and say it isn't opinion. I'm not going to say who I prefer to avoid a Ronaldo vs Messi boring debate but he's the current WPOTY and both are very even, its very much down to personal view..
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Maybe you are right just most of the supporters that are not Real, Barca or United for that matter I think would choose Messi. He has been better I think for larger periods of time and has been injured for quite a lot last season. But lets not go there and agree to disagree.

Pretty much agree with the rest and as someone else mentioned I think Benzema fit Real system better with Bale and Ronaldo, rather than Falcao.
 
Brightonian said:
For once, I agree with you. Suarez has been consistently exceptional for a few seasons, whereas Falcao just had one. And not only was Bale's last season better than Neymar's, but Bale's came off the back of a couple in which he was regularly unplayable (adding lots of goals in the second) in a strong league, whereas Neymar's hype has noticeably diminished (as, I can't help but note because I'm a smug dickhead, I always predicted) now that he's not in a league where he regularly gets to play against League Two-level teams in Brazil's various regional and metropolitan competitions.

As you say, the Messi-Ronaldo thing is definitely down to opinion. Although I can't see that there's much doubt that Ronaldo was better last season.
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I agree that suarez is better but falcao has had more than one good season. He had two seasons where he scored over 30 goals for atletico and two seasons for porto where he scored over thirty goals. Maybe you don't rate the portugese league much but in the year he won the Europa league with porto, he scored 18 goals in 16 matches in the Europa league which in my opinion is good by any standards. He has definitely being around for longer than a season. While suarez is the better all-round player and his highest level is better than that of falcaos, I would even go so far as to say that falcao was the better/more effective player prior to last season and was more consistent over the course of the seasons, despite suarez having more potential/ability. Falcao scored many decisive goals throughout the seasons and also in big matches (something suarez does not do, at least on a consistent basis yet) and played a big role during those years in his teams winning trophies regularly (which is not something suarez has done). He has been extremely consistent over the last four seasons. The comparison of suarez and falcao I have made there is from the last four seasons in which overall I think falcao has been better/more effective/important for his team. If you think suarezs prior performances in Holland give him an edge over falcao then fair enough.
 
It's being reported that he's signed for Real for a £20m loan deal with an option or obligation to buy. Sorry, my Spanish (google translate) isn't up to scratch. £20 million for a loan would be a lot. Unless it comes off the purchase price next year I suppose.
 
RexHamilton said:
It's being reported that he's signed for Real for a £20m loan deal with an option or obligation to buy. Sorry, my Spanish (google translate) isn't up to scratch. £20 million for a loan would be a lot. Unless it comes off the purchase price next year I suppose.
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I imagine it would include his wages, which will be twice as much as they would be at Monaco due to tax.
 
Why a Loan?

And call me crazy, Falcao is the better striker than Benzema, but I am not sure he will fit their system as good as Karim. Benzema's workrate is great and I am not convinced that Ronaldo - Falcao - Bale with James behind them is balanced, now include Kroos and Modric as CMs. Will work in the league against small opponents, but in the big games? Like the Galacticos they look outstanding on paper, but I wouldn't be shocked, if things could get really wrong for this team.
 
Pyroblazer said:
Why a Loan?

And call me crazy, Falcao is the better striker than Benzema, but I am not sure he will fit their system as good as Karim. Benzema's workrate is great and I am not convinced that Ronaldo - Falcao - Bale with James behind them is balanced, now include Kroos and Modric as CMs. Will work in the league against small opponents, but in the big games? Like the Galacticos they look outstanding on paper, but I wouldn't be shocked, if things could get really wrong for this team.
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The only issue with the line up would be Kroos and Modric in midfield. Either 1 benches or Kroos plays behind the strikers. Benzema to falcao is an upgrade even taking into consideration their tactics.
 
RooneyLegend said:
The only issue with the line up would be Kroos and Modric in midfield. Either 1 benches or Kroos plays behind the strikers. Benzema to falcao is an upgrade even taking into consideration their tactics.
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Hmmm, I am not that sure. Ronaldo is like a striker and doesn't do any back tracking, Bale also more and more developed into a wide striker. Like I said Falcao is the better striker, but Benzema's workrate and energy could be more important for the team, he is superior in that aspect than Falcao, even if he doesn't score as much goals. And the main issue for me is that James really can't replace Di Maria, with him it will be more a 4-2-3-1 (or more 4-2-1-3) than 4-3-3. We have to wait to see how that will work, but will be a tough task for Ancelotti imo.
 
Pyroblazer said:
Hmmm, I am not that sure. Ronaldo is like a striker and doesn't do any back tracking, Bale also more and more developed into a wide striker. Like I said Falcao is the better striker, but Benzema's workrate and energy could be more important for the team, he is superior in that aspect than Falcao, even if he doesn't score as much goals. And the main issue for me is that James really can't replace Di Maria, with him it will be more a 4-2-3-1 (or more 4-2-1-3) than 4-3-3. We have to wait to see how that will work, but will be a tough task for Ancelotti imo.
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They balance Ronaldo's lack of defending by playing a 4-3-3 with the left center mid covering his defensive work on that side which is what di maria did so well at the end of last season. He can simply shift Modric to that side and he'd cover in for him. Bale tracks back so he's never an actual problem to the set up. Its a matter of instruction really, James will just need to be told where hes supposed to be covering, if he cant then he'll probably struggle to make the team. Falcao also works hard so that wont be much of an issue, plus hardwork from a striker isn't all that important unless they form a key role in the defensive structure of a team and benzema just doesn't. In essence he covers no important defensive zones. The only real question imo would be whether they'd miss benzemas playmaking in the final third in terms of hold up play and link up play however madrid aren't a team of fancy passing combinations.

basically this
----Ronaldo-----Falcao-----Bale------
----------Modric------James
---------------illaramendi-----------
will work provided illaramendi steps up to the plate. Modric protects Ronnies defensive zone with illaramendi and james shifting to the middle. Bale fills into the final spot on the right. James is switchable with kroos in the set up which wont be much of a problem cause Bale actually takes care of his defensive duties.

------Ronaldo-----Falcao-----Bale-----
--------------------James---------------
--------------Kroos-----Modriic
is a recipe for disaster which will probably lead to a spanking from another big club and i doubt Ancelotti will spend too much time setting up like that throughout the season in games where they expect to face any resistance.
 
Whoever gets him on loan have done an incredible piece of business, even at £15-20 million assuming it includes wages in that fee.
 
Really really hope he doesn't come to the premier league.
 
I'm not sold on him being worth all this. Definitely not sold on him being an upgrade on Benzema. Feels like the only reason Madrid would be getting him now is because some other team can.
 
Snow said:
I'm not sold on him being worth all this. Definitely not sold on him being an upgrade on Benzema. Feels like the only reason Madrid would be getting him now is because some other team can.
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Better than Benzema or not, they do look in need of another striker. They've got only one, after Morata left. It's a bit ridiculous to pay that much for a loan though, especially for someone who hasn't started in consecutive games in 6 months or so.
 
Scarecrow said:
Better than Benzema or not, they do look in need of another striker. They've got only one, after Morata left. It's a bit ridiculous to pay that much for a loan though, especially for someone who hasn't started in consecutive games in 6 months or so.
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They're definitely short on natural strikers but I don't see any reason why Jesé (when fit), Isco or James can't fill in for Benzema in a false 9 role - Benzema basically plays like that anyway.
 
Scarecrow said:
Better than Benzema or not, they do look in need of another striker. They've got only one, after Morata left. It's a bit ridiculous to pay that much for a loan though, especially for someone who hasn't started in consecutive games in 6 months or so.
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They've got Jese. They did fine last season. They might need another striker but that striker can't be a definite starter over the other. There's only one room and no one wants to sit on the bench for long. If a Falcao deal becomes permanent then Benzema hasn't got long left unless Falcao flops.
 
Raul Madrid said:
True, although it is better than spending 60-80 million or whatever for him and then find out he is still injured or not the same player after his injury.
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Falcao will be 29 in 6 months. He's not really a 60-80 million player IMO.
 
If falcao is signed I think it could cause problems like there was when higuain was at the club. In a team that normally plays with one striker, having two top strikers can be troublesome in a way although it is a problem that I am sure most managers would like having. It was like that at Madrid with benzema and higuain where mourinho kept rotating them and when it came to the big matches both of them were poor as they didn't have the confidence knowing that if they missed a few chances they would be kept on the field. It is also frustrating for a striker to know that even if he scores that he may not start the next match because the coach wants to rotate to keep both players happy and if ancelotti decides to do the opposite of that and keep playing one of the strikers who is in better form then the player who is on the bench more will be frustrated. Big strikers like that will want to play every match and get as much goals as possible and after a while their confidence, motivation and form will suffer if they are not playing as much as they feel they should be.

Judging from his time at atletico I would say falcao is the better striker and out-and-out number nine. He is a much more natural finisher and a better player than benzema in the box. Although he does not offer as much in the build-up as benzema and it is unlikely that he would link up with Ronaldo and bale as well as benzema does. Overall I think benzema suits the team better and hopefully unless his form drops significantly, he keeps his place. Although falcao definitely would bring something different to the team and is a great player so in the short term it would be a good signing but in the long-term I see it being similar to the higuain-benzema situation and one of them will have to make-way. A big positive of Madrid signing falcao imo is that in matches against teams that sit deep and just defend (like atletico in the supercup) he will be very useful as he needs less chances to score than benzema and that is a big problem Madrid had in the league last year vs defensive teams. Falcao would have been a much better player to have had in game vs atletico last week. Overall when both are at their best, falcao is the better striker but I think benzema suits the style of play and compliments his teammates better.
 
Il Prete Rosso said:
That's a buttload of money for a year long loan.
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It isn't really though. His wages will be about £200k a week for any team that has to pay tax. Then you're left with a £10 million loan fee, which is about a fair proportion of the fee he'd cost to buy outright.
 
Spiersey said:
It isn't really though. His wages will be about £200k a week for any team that has to pay tax. Then you're left with a £10 million loan fee, which is about a fair proportion of the fee he'd cost to buy outright.
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Yeah but when you spend all that money you really don't want to part with a player like that after a year. The loan fee isn't bad but most clubs would be put off by that 200k/week wage demand. It won't look good on the books after the year is over I can assure you of that.
 
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