CHOULO19

True. He also famously subbed him off in the CL semifinal match against us in 2008. But as @Miracle, said, the problem is Rafa is probably being asked to play him by Roman.

Yes, that's why I've been saying for some time now that all the Falcao rumors are just media bullshit because we can't afford to buy him. Please don't let me repeat why.

That is ability, not style of play, which I don't doubt Falcao has plenty of. Falcao's playing style, however, is either using his pace on counter attacks or his movement in the box while the system we use that Drogba played and even Torres had to change his game to adjust to requires the striker to win first headers and hold play up or drop off or move to the wings to create space for the midfielders to run into. This is very different than what Radamel did Porto and is doing at Madrid.

True, and that is how often we should pay 50m for one player. Yesterday EUFA banned Malaga from all European competitions for breaking FFP rules, so paying 50m might keeps us out of Europe as well.

The ones I mention in a reply to your post a few mins ago. Yes but some strikers are capable in addition to that of hold-up and link-up play as well as assisting (regularly) and defending and Falcao is not. And just so no one quotes this post and takes it out of context I am merely replying to your post, this is NOT why I don't want us to get Falcao. The striker who had played next to no football in the previous 6-7 months missed a couple of chances? Hardly shocking. But the point is he got those chances by making runs and movements that any decent striker does and that, with the likes of Mata and Hazard behind you is enough to get you goals here. But I don't want to move the Sturridge discussion here, we are going off topic. I feel we are now arguing just for the sake of arguing. We keep going in circles and repeating the same things over.

My answer is this brilliant post by @laura90, :

I've watched the vast majority of Radamel's matches at Madrid (mainly to watch Thibaut) and I don't remember any goal where he cut out the ball and went on to score. give me some examples and i will go watch the goals, although statistics seem to back my claim because he only has 0.1 interceptions per game this season. What does Falcao being a poacher have anything to do with whether or not he is a "phenomenon"? It's not an insult if someone is a poacher. Falcao is the best poacher striker in the world right now and that is saying something.

I expect Falcao, if he comes here, to have slightly better figures than Drogba. BUT What Didier brought to the team is much much more than just goals. Falcao only brings goals. I would take a young Drogba over 3 Falcaos any day of the week. I think one area that we are NOT suffering in is chance creation. When did Sturridge get his chance at CF? Last season at Wigan (where btw he did score our only goal of the match)? Or against Manu in the Capital One Cup with Piazon and Bertrand behind him (again he managed to score and should probably have had a hat-trick with slightly better finishing)? But that is not the point I was making, the point is: Is the goal difference between Falcao and a 15-20m Striker like Lewandowiski or Llorente worth the extra 30-35m? To me the answer is no. I never said EL final is not important, just that it comes no where near what Drogba does in finals. I'm not saying that Falcao can't do it in the UCL, but rather that he has not done it yet. And the part about Drogba playing at LB was completely taken out of context as I explained to Nada above. Finally, since when is 15-20m cheap?! 20m is still expensive but reasonal price to pay for a good striker. 50m is just naive.

My post was was an answer to another post on specific points, you kind of took it out of context. First, yes Falcao rarely creates his own goals. How often have you seen him receive the ball with his back to the goal and manage to turn and score? Or cut out the ball from the defender and go on to score? Falcao is a poacher, he thrives on his teammates' cervice, on crosses and through ball. There is nothing wrong with that, it's just the way he plays. Second, my reference to Drogba at Camp Nou was in reply to the claim that Falcao is a big game player like Didier. My point was that Radamel still has a long way to go to be as much a big game player as Drogba was because what Drogba offered to the team in big matches was much more than just goals. In big matches Drogba raised his performance in attack, leadership, defense and much more that he even played at LB at Camp Nou. Third, I said that any decent striker would have won us the CWC because the post I replied to was stating that Falcao would have won is the CWC.

Who "else"? is not the right question in my opinion in the first place because to start with, I don't think Falcao suites the style of football we play. Cavani would be my first choice but he too is expensive. Llorente is available and so is Huntelaar. I would like us more to sign someone with more experience because our squad is so young. Villa would be perfect or even Milito.

Judging by past experience, us being so heavily linked with him probably means that we won't actually buy him.

I really don't get the "either Falcao or no one" thinking. There are plenty of strikers who could do the job for us up front. And how often can he do "spectacular" things because I very very rarely see him creating his own goals. Scoring in 2 EL finals does not make you a big game player. Falcao still has a lot to do and probably will never be the big game player that Drogba was. And Drogba was not only scoring goals in those important matches, he was practically playing at LB at Camp Nou. I don't think Falcao would do that. We need to change Torres, there is no question in that but Falcao is not the messiah that will magically solve all our players. We also need to strengthen both our defense and midfield. Any decent striker up front, not just falcao and we would have won the CWC.

But why would we pay 50m for him if he is going to score in all competitions no more than 20-25 goals a season. Plenty of cheaper striker who could that.

Yes Falcao will score more than Torres simply because his finish is much much better. However, in our current system he won't score anywhere near what he is currently scoring for Madrid.

No. This is what we achieved by an attacking system that is based on an striker that does not only finish but one who could also hold-up, assist, and create space. The offense is not a bunch of players each scoring his goals. Falcao has 17 goals in La Liga, half of the entire tally of his team. If we were playing the system that Athletico play which is based only on Falcao in the past 8 years, Frank probably won't have reached 100 goals by now.

The full press conference yesterday if anyone is interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r60z1tnWh74&feature=youtu.be

Nothing new there..

We should should really bring him to the bridge........so our fans could kill him!

No idea where you got that from but it's the first I've heard of this.

I wasn't even aware of such a thing as a homophobic gesture! How the hell to you call someone gay with your hand?

I was talking purely on ability and not price, but I don't want to go off topic here.

You do realize when I say stuff in a discussion about a debatable issue where the opinions are divided (i.e. there are no absolute facts), it makes them my opinion. It's like when I say for example "Sturridge is better than Torres", I would not be claiming that is a fact but merely stating my opinion. It is the same as saying "I think Sturridge is better than Torres" but the "I think" part is omitted to show my confidence in my opinion but it is still an unproven opinion. It's just my opinion but I would rather have Cavani, Ibra or Van Persie in my team over Radamel. But this is neither the place nor the time for this debate.

Fucking Spike, always has a point!

Best striker in the world? Matter of opinion. It's still A LOT of money on one player which makes it a massive risk. Exactly what I'm saying. We won't sign him because we can't afford to. All the rumors are probably media bullshit, so don't get your hopes up.

Yes I did, you can go back to the threads and check. And what do those deals have to do with this? Are you saying that because we over-paid and were ripped off for many deals in the past we should allow ourselves to be ripped off and pay over the top for Falcao as well?!