Radamel Falcao

[Muzchap 8,966]

I understand your concerns, but Falcao is not Torres, he won't let an underpar start affect him mentally. A bit like RVP, after his debut at Everton, Torres like jokes were getting prepared for him, he killed them off by netting the following week.

Although i would like to spend that money on 3-4 players, i just cannot for the life of me seeing Falcao epic-ally flop.

Your optimism is rubbing off on me

Gonna go sign him on FMH quickly and see what he's like

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

All I'm saying is, we've gambled big on this position twice and been burnt twice. It makes more sense to find the Falcao's of tomorrow ourselves and pay a fraction less. The most logical thing is to buy several strikers and have them compete for this position. Instead we're selling the one who could've done that, keeping the waste of space who's a challenge to no-one and not having a plan B.

This is exactly it. Falcao or anyone might fail at Chelsea. You can rationalize why it's different this time, but it really isn't. Anyone can fail even players as good as Shevchenko (who was a better player than Falcao). People make it sound as if Torres was useless before we bought him. He looked great when he scored a brace against us earlier in the year. If you watched that game and thought "he's losing it", you're lying. He hasn't played a single game against a top club with Chelsea as good as that. On paper, both of those players should have worked out and it's easy to make retrospective sense as to why they didn't work, but if Falcao or Cavani or whomever doesn't work out, we'll be able to do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20. It just doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket when you have so many holes to fill. It's an enormous risk, that if fails will basically mean Chelsea are screwed for years. I'd much rather someone like David Villa who would cost about 1/5th of Falcao/Cavani and then let a couple of young strikers play behind him to get experience and to prove that they can play at this level and make themselves ready to take over as the #1 when the time comes. It doesn't have to be Villa, it could be Demba Ba or Grant Holt or another cheaper striker than can score. Then, you can spend money on other positions (CM, new LB, young, promising striker). But we always have to chase the hot player...that's what they tell you in business school...buy high, sell low, right?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

This is exactly it. Falcao or anyone might fail at Chelsea. You can rationalize why it's different this time, but it really isn't. Anyone can fail even players as good as Shevchenko (who was a better player than Falcao). People make it sound as if Torres was useless before we bought him. He looked great when he scored a brace against us earlier in the year. If you watched that game and thought "he's losing it", you're lying. He hasn't played a single game against a top club with Chelsea as good as that. On paper, both of those players should have worked out and it's easy to make retrospective sense as to why they didn't work, but if Falcao or Cavani or whomever doesn't work out, we'll be able to do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20. It just doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket when you have so many holes to fill. It's an enormous risk, that if fails will basically mean Chelsea are screwed for years. I'd much rather someone like David Villa who would cost about 1/5th of Falcao/Cavani and then let a couple of young strikers play behind him to get experience and to prove that they can play at this level and make themselves ready to take over as the #1 when the time comes. It doesn't have to be Villa, it could be Demba Ba or Grant Holt or another cheaper striker than can score. Then, you can spend money on other positions (CM, new LB, young, promising striker). But we always have to chase the hot player...that's what they tell you in business school...buy high, sell low, right?

Thank you! This is what I've been trying to say the whole time. Someone gets it!

[Muzchap 8,966]

Thank you! This is what I've been trying to say the whole time. Someone gets it!

Think we all get it

Price Tag <> success.

In fact I guess there is an argument that the > price tag, the > risk of failure... Because once the money is spent the player has to deliver and will be scrutinised harshly, just look at Hazard - he's under pressure every game - really don't think we have done a good job of integrating our new players... It's the sink or swim methodology and at the minute, treading water is what we are getting...

Found some amazing players on FMH cheap - think we should snap them up

Will post them tomorrow - on other iPad

[Yeboii 1,844]

This is exactly it. Falcao or anyone might fail at Chelsea. You can rationalize why it's different this time, but it really isn't. Anyone can fail even players as good as Shevchenko (who was a better player than Falcao). People make it sound as if Torres was useless before we bought him. He looked great when he scored a brace against us earlier in the year. If you watched that game and thought "he's losing it", you're lying. He hasn't played a single game against a top club with Chelsea as good as that. On paper, both of those players should have worked out and it's easy to make retrospective sense as to why they didn't work, but if Falcao or Cavani or whomever doesn't work out, we'll be able to do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20. It just doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket when you have so many holes to fill. It's an enormous risk, that if fails will basically mean Chelsea are screwed for years. I'd much rather someone like David Villa who would cost about 1/5th of Falcao/Cavani and then let a couple of young strikers play behind him to get experience and to prove that they can play at this level and make themselves ready to take over as the #1 when the time comes. It doesn't have to be Villa, it could be Demba Ba or Grant Holt or another cheaper striker than can score. Then, you can spend money on other positions (CM, new LB, young, promising striker). But we always have to chase the hot player...that's what they tell you in business school...buy high, sell low, right?

About the business part. We have no idea how many fans will buy jerseys with Falcao's name or merchandize. People coming to games to see him play etc etc. So we can't say it wont be profitable to buy him and sell him later for a lower price.

[Muzchap 8,966]

About the business part. We have no idea how many fans will buy jerseys with Falcao's name or merchandize. People coming to games to see him play etc etc. So we can't say it wont be profitable to buy him and sell him later for a lower price.

Good point on merchandising - Would be good to see how many shirts were sold with Torres on, but does that actually equate to a Torres inspired sale, or would they still have got the shirt but with Lamps or Terry instead?

I hope he's sold 50million worth!!! Then we can flog him for a profit (less wages)...

[Sheva. 5,373]

Atletico spent big money on Falcao when they could have gone for a cheaper, shittier option to replace Aguero, he took a few months to settle down and has turned out great for them.

Signing him or Cavani is a risk for any team, but there's every chance you will get good value for your money.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Sheva before chelsea= european, quick, skillful, finisher, team player

Torres before chelsea = quick, skillful, top finisher.

Falcao = SOUTH AMERICAN, PHYSiCAL, BIG GAME PLAYER(barca, chelsea, finals like drogba), ONLY MESSI IS A BETTER FINISHER, SPEED, POWER, FREEKICK, 40 GOALS PER SEASON, AGGRESSIVE

I think there is a significant difference in the kind of striker falcao is compared to our formal flops. Chill guys...

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

This is exactly it. Falcao or anyone might fail at Chelsea. You can rationalize why it's different this time, but it really isn't. Anyone can fail even players as good as Shevchenko (who was a better player than Falcao). People make it sound as if Torres was useless before we bought him. He looked great when he scored a brace against us earlier in the year. If you watched that game and thought "he's losing it", you're lying. He hasn't played a single game against a top club with Chelsea as good as that. On paper, both of those players should have worked out and it's easy to make retrospective sense as to why they didn't work, but if Falcao or Cavani or whomever doesn't work out, we'll be able to do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20. It just doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket when you have so many holes to fill. It's an enormous risk, that if fails will basically mean Chelsea are screwed for years. I'd much rather someone like David Villa who would cost about 1/5th of Falcao/Cavani and then let a couple of young strikers play behind him to get experience and to prove that they can play at this level and make themselves ready to take over as the #1 when the time comes. It doesn't have to be Villa, it could be Demba Ba or Grant Holt or another cheaper striker than can score. Then, you can spend money on other positions (CM, new LB, young, promising striker). But we always have to chase the hot player...that's what they tell you in business school...buy high, sell low, right?

Shevchenko was NOT a better player than Falcao at the time of purchase. Torres WAS absolutely useless before we bought him and injured! That is the only reason he was sold. Yes he looked good against us but he was extremely poor when he played for Spain and was largely a shadow of himself when he played for Liverpool. One game in 19 doesn't make him a solid player... He was extremely poor for most of his 2010-11 campaign.

And I don't understand why people always look to Shevy (past it) and Torres (damaged goods) when they look at buying big for a striker? What about Didier? Anelka? Vialli? Hasselbaink? You see it doesn't always go sour. And why focus so heavily on the negative, about what if it doesn't work? WHAT IF IT DOES??? we will have one of the most IN FORM, CLINICAL STRIKERS IN THE WORLD! A match winner and an offensive dynamo!

You want Villa???? He's so past it! And coming off a major injury. That is precisely what you don't want with FFP its exactly why the Torres purchase was so poor! he's 31 for fuck sakes. Ba has terrible knees and Holt??? good lord what are you smoking son? If you're looking to give the youth a go you clearly haven't examined what's happening at the other big clubs in the world. WE NEED IN FORM STRIKERS TO COMPETE THERE IS NO ONE BETTER THAN FALCAO RIGHT NOW! Players like him don't become available, this is a rare opportunity to grab elite talent we need to take it and I know we will! Its a perfect marriage.

Chelsea is in the business of winning things not looking to cut corners with cheap, damaged goods. When Falcao is banging them in with regularly you'll look back at this and wonder what the hell were you thinking. BOOK IT!

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

About the business part. We have no idea how many fans will buy jerseys with Falcao's name or merchandize. People coming to games to see him play etc etc. So we can't say it wont be profitable to buy him and sell him later for a lower price.

If I didn't have such bad luck with jersey's with names on the back I'd would DEF buy a Falcao jersey... After he prove(s)d he's proper Chelsea of course

[Tomo 21,733]

This is exactly it. Falcao or anyone might fail at Chelsea. You can rationalize why it's different this time, but it really isn't. Anyone can fail even players as good as Shevchenko (who was a better player than Falcao). People make it sound as if Torres was useless before we bought him. He looked great when he scored a brace against us earlier in the year. If you watched that game and thought "he's losing it", you're lying. He hasn't played a single game against a top club with Chelsea as good as that. On paper, both of those players should have worked out and it's easy to make retrospective sense as to why they didn't work, but if Falcao or Cavani or whomever doesn't work out, we'll be able to do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20. It just doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket when you have so many holes to fill. It's an enormous risk, that if fails will basically mean Chelsea are screwed for years. I'd much rather someone like David Villa who would cost about 1/5th of Falcao/Cavani and then let a couple of young strikers play behind him to get experience and to prove that they can play at this level and make themselves ready to take over as the #1 when the time comes. It doesn't have to be Villa, it could be Demba Ba or Grant Holt or another cheaper striker than can score. Then, you can spend money on other positions (CM, new LB, young, promising striker). But we always have to chase the hot player...that's what they tell you in business school...buy high, sell low, right?

That was his only good game that season, if only we realized the consequences of that match for years to come.

[Blue Armour 4,312]

I understand your concerns, but Falcao is not Torres, he won't let an underpar start affect him mentally. A bit like RVP, after his debut at Everton, Torres like jokes were getting prepared for him, he killed them off by netting the following week.

Although i would like to spend that money on 3-4 players, i just cannot for the life of me seeing Falcao epic-ally flop.

No he's not, but I feel he's also another forward that depends on good service. Granted he won't flop when put through on goal, but I doubt whether our team can consistently give him the service he needs. Torres has his faults, but there are several instances in every match when players like Hazard and even Mata fail to spot some of his runs. If Falcao is a forward that can involve himself in the build-up play he can do well here..if not, that's another failed investment.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

About the business part. We have no idea how many fans will buy jerseys with Falcao's name or merchandize. People coming to games to see him play etc etc. So we can't say it wont be profitable to buy him and sell him later for a lower price.

The problem with the "he'll sell kits" line is that anybody will sell kits so you have to measure the number of kits sold versus the potential number of kits sold of any other player. Unless the player is incredibly marketable (say, Messi or Ronaldo) or maybe opens up a market the way African and Asian players might (although I am dubious on that front as well) it doesn't really factor in for two reasons.

1) Would they have bought the shirt with a different name? In most cases, yes.The vast majority of Chelsea supporters are due to their success rather than to any individual players being bought. How many new fans will Chelsea attract because of Falcao? I'd have to think...very few. This isn't a game-changer or anything.

2) If Chelsea bought a cheaper player who has still successful, would they sell the same number of shirts? Let's say Chelsea bought Demba Ba and he scored goals for us, would he sell us any fewer shirts than Falcao?

People were using the same argument for Hulk. I've never bought it.

[Rmpr 8,977]

People need to sort it out.

1. We need to stop buying young players but when it comes to Falcao we should look for a promissing ST instead. People often criticize our team because it is too young and cracks under pressure, well, Falcao will certainly help.

2. People say we go aftert he big signings and they are always flop. We only had 2 flops who were bought in a total decline (clearly not Falcao). All our other players turned out alright, remember the fuss about Drogba? Back then it was our biggest transfer. RM (as a buying team like us) did not hesitate in buying big names like Ronaldo because they alsohad a history of flops. This is what any big spending team is exposure.

3. 47million for Falcao is a lot, but we have top competition and itis January. RVP was at the last year of his contract and went for 27mi, that is pretty high too, at a normal transfer it would hit 40million.

4. Falcao will return his investment even if he doesnt play like he is used to in Atletico and was in Porto. Shirts sales, turism, colombian fans, etc. It does balance what we pay, it just doesnt appear in the finances as "Falcao's return". LOL

5. Some fans expect us to buy a LB, DM, CM and CF if we dont use the money on a big striker. Well, let me tell you something: no one will come, at least not in this transfer window. It willbe Falcao and a cheap DM (or loan). Also, if we buy Falcao it does not mean we wont buy the necessary players next season. We all know Roman's goal and it will only be achieved by sticking with a top manger and top players.

Lastly, anyone arguing that Falcao will be a flop because of Sheva or Torres should just rethink their opinions. This is just nonsense, players arent the same. Also, dont go over this belief that the money from Falcao would be used for other gaps in our team or tha he wont be a profitable signing, because we all know this isnt true. However, if you want to do a tactical analyses on why he wont fit or why he isnt good enough for our team, feel free to convice me. I will be the first to say I was wrong.

[Strike 7,250]

This is exactly it. Falcao or anyone might fail at Chelsea. You can rationalize why it's different this time, but it really isn't. Anyone can fail even players as good as Shevchenko (who was a better player than Falcao). People make it sound as if Torres was useless before we bought him. He looked great when he scored a brace against us earlier in the year. If you watched that game and thought "he's losing it", you're lying. He hasn't played a single game against a top club with Chelsea as good as that. On paper, both of those players should have worked out and it's easy to make retrospective sense as to why they didn't work, but if Falcao or Cavani or whomever doesn't work out, we'll be able to do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20. It just doesn't make sense to put all your eggs in one basket when you have so many holes to fill. It's an enormous risk, that if fails will basically mean Chelsea are screwed for years. I'd much rather someone like David Villa who would cost about 1/5th of Falcao/Cavani and then let a couple of young strikers play behind him to get experience and to prove that they can play at this level and make themselves ready to take over as the #1 when the time comes. It doesn't have to be Villa, it could be Demba Ba or Grant Holt or another cheaper striker than can score. Then, you can spend money on other positions (CM, new LB, young, promising striker). But we always have to chase the hot player...that's what they tell you in business school...buy high, sell low, right?

excellent point but Falcao is an almost impossible signing at 48mil.. we are not going to get 60m Champions League bounty and we have turned over a profit for the first time in a while. (1.2mil) and for those saying we'll get money from Europa league, note this. Atletico Madrid got 10.5 million euros for winning Europa League. that's not even the winnings of CL group stages.

simply put, Falcao is a no-go. atleast not at 48million

[Strike 7,250]

People need to sort it out.

3. 47million for Falcao is a lot, but we have top competition and itis January. RVP was at the last year of his contract and went for 27mi, that is pretty high too, at a normal transfer it would hit 40million.

impossible. 47 mil is ridiculous money. i'd say let's wait till the summer to get a proper manager and then sign players he wants.

also, money-wise its absurd to go ahead and sign falcao. read my previous post.

plus, signings like ba, walcott and maybe a midfielder will be enough this january to secure our season objective - Top 4 finish

the squad has serious problems but i'd wait till the summer for Pep/Jose/Klopp or whoever it is that takes charge here and sign players that the manager wants and not the board or the directors. as of now, we have a bunch of talented individuals whose attacking policy is give the ball to the 3 amigos and we'll see if something comes of it. in january, if we can add a bit of depth and freshness to our attack to give us an option of switching to a 4-4-2 in games where our plans are not working, that'd be more than enough.

sign bargain backups----top 4----rafa out----pep in----rebuild

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Shevchenko was NOT a better player than Falcao at the time of purchase. Torres WAS absolutely useless before we bought him and injured! That is the only reason he was sold. Yes he looked good against us but he was extremely poor when he played for Spain and was largely a shadow of himself when he played for Liverpool. One game in 19 doesn't make him a solid player... He was extremely poor for most of his 2010-11 campaign.

And I don't understand why people always look to Shevy (past it) and Torres (damaged goods) when they look at buying big for a striker? What about Didier? Anelka? Vialli? Hasselbaink? You see it doesn't always go sour. And why focus so heavily on the negative, about what if it doesn't work? WHAT IF IT DOES??? we will have one of the most IN FORM, CLINICAL STRIKERS IN THE WORLD! A match winner and an offensive dynamo!

You want Villa???? He's so past it! And coming off a major injury. That is precisely what you don't want with FFP its exactly why the Torres purchase was so poor! he's 31 for fuck sakes. Ba has terrible knees and Holt??? good lord what are you smoking son? If you're looking to give the youth a go you clearly haven't examined what's happening at the other big clubs in the world. WE NEED IN FORM STRIKERS TO COMPETE THERE IS NO ONE BETTER THAN FALCAO RIGHT NOW! Players like him don't become available, this is a rare opportunity to grab elite talent we need to take it and I know we will! Its a perfect marriage.

Chelsea is in the business of winning things not looking to cut corners with cheap, damaged goods. When Falcao is banging them in with regularly you'll look back at this and wonder what the hell were you thinking. BOOK IT!

Wrong on just about every count. Torres was not sold because he was worthless, he was sold because we paid 50M pounds. Nobody at that time was saying what you are saying people thought. He was worse the previous 6 months than he was previously, but he wasn't close to as bad as he's been for us.. Shevchenko was the best striker in the world the previous decade. He had led the Champions League in scoring the year before. He had scored 26 or more goals in 3 straight years in a league that was very difficult to score in. He had won the Ballon D'or two seasons before. It's the difference between a striker who was considered one of the best players in the world for about a decade and a striker who is in form.

And why do people compare Falcao to Shevchenko and Torres, simply because of how much Falcao will cost. Hassailbank and Anelka cost under 20M pounds. Drogba cost 24M. Falcao would cost close to 50M. This is the curse of the new Chelsea. Every supporter wants to go out and buy the most expensive player. Villa is worthless! Demba Ba sucks! Grant Holt sucks! Everyone except the flavour of the moment sucks!

@Rmpr-NOBODY is saying that because Shevchenko and Torres failed therefore Falcao will. What we are saying is that anybody can fail even players like Shevchenko and Torres who were regarded as world-class players (the revisionism around here is ridiculous). We have spent so much money as a club that people have insane ideas of market value. You know how many players in the world went for more than 20M pounds this year? Maybe 5-10. 45-50M pounds on one player is insane unless that player is a Ronaldo/Messi/Zidane sort of player. Falcao simply isn't that kind of player. (And as for a tactical analysis, ask SeB, maybe he'll do one for you. The short version for me is that Falcao is a target man, feeds of a system that feeds him. Chelsea don't play in our strikers very much at all and we certainly don't have a team set-up for one player to score. Falcao would score more than Torres because he's a better scorer and Torres misses too many easy goals which Falcao would knock home, but you don't need to spend 50M pounds to get someone better than Torres.

I feel like it's the same thing that happened with Hulk (although I like Falcao more than Hulk) with supporters saying "he's amazing, he'll never fail, he's worth 40M pounds, etc.." If we don't get Falcao, it will be someone else in the summer.

[Madmax 9,219]

I'd rather Lewandowski.