Radamel Falcao

[Henrique 9,133]

No but it means alot of chelsea fans thought that an african player was one of the greatest which doesn't support the racism claims.

Also i am sure there is fans of every team who is racist in some way but that doesn't mean that is the reason why probably 1/3rd of the people on here would rather have lewandowski,

Perhaps not to the most part of the people.

[killer1257 3,282]

Injured or not he was an investment, and this "injured" argument is not totally true, because in 07/08 season he played 32 games, last season 35 and the other 6 he played more than 40. wich means he was injured in some games, yes, but the number of games he played is almost the same as any other striker in same period.

Didier was a great player, despite his lack of goals in most part of the seasons, so I really dont know how can someone say a striker that would scored no more than 25 is not worth 48m.

How much assists and key passes did he make?

[Hutcho 8,443]

Perhaps not to the most part of the people.

So your saying subconsciously the people who would rather have lewandowski are saying so because he is european instead of being columbian or uruguayan..

[Henrique 9,133]

How much assists and key passes did he make?

thats exactly my point.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Injured or not he was an investment, and this "injured" argument is not totally true, because in 07/08 season he played 32 games, last season 35 and the other 6 he played more than 40. wich means he was injured in some games, yes, but the number of games he played is almost the same as any other striker in same period.

Didier was a great player, despite his lack of goals in most part of the seasons, so I really dont know how can someone say a striker that would scored no more than 25 is not worth 48m.

I think what he is trying to say is that Falcao is more on the side of a pure goal scorer and that there are strikers out there who bring more to the table than just goals - strikers that aren't absent for majority of the game unless they score i.e. a Drogba, a Cavani or an Ibrahimovic.

These guys I've just mentioned are/were very useful to the team outside the box compared to Falcao, that is Falcao's only weakness IMO. One thing Falcao does have on these guys though is that he is at the moment the deadliest striker in the box and the purest number 9 compared to all of them.

I don't agree with the notion that Falcao isn't worth £48m, because he really is (in today's frantic market anyway), as he is that lethal in the box, but what I do agree with is that for that price you'd ideally want your striker to be immense outside of the box as well - again not saying that Falcao is bad outside the box, but he certainly isn't the best.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Who else is out there who might be available in January and would suit the style of football we're trying to play?

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.

[Henrique 9,133]

I think what he is trying to say is that Falcao is more on the side of a pure goal scorer and that there are strikers out there who bring more to the table than just goals - strikers that aren't absent for majority of the game unless they score i.e. a Drogba, a Cavani or an Ibrahimovic.

These guys I've just mentioned are/were very useful to the team outside the box compared to Falcao, that is Falcao's only weakness IMO. One thing Falcao does have on these guys though is that he is at the moment the deadliest striker in the box and the purest number 9 compared to all of them.

I don't agree with the notion that Falcao isn't worth £48m, because he really is (in today's frantic market anyway), as he is that lethal in the box, but what I do agree with is that for that price you'd ideally want your striker to be immense outside of the box as well - again not saying that Falcao is bad outside the box, but he certainly isn't the best.

Didier was our main striker and barely scored more than 16 a season, so having a guy who would score 25 would be great.

[The only place to be 11,313]

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.

Why doesn't he suit our style? We need someone who stretches the play by playing on the last man. We need a guy who can run the channels and finish chances. That is Falcao. He also seems available and willing to come, as well as being particularly admired by the guy who our owner wants as our manager in six months time.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Didier was our main striker and barely scored more than 16 a season, so having a guy who would score 25 would be great.

I don't think that that's satisfactory to be honest. I want more from our striker than just 25 goals a season - after all, our current number 9 is well on track for that.

Yes Didier wasn't as prolific as let's say a Falcao but his presence alone made him a nuisance in opposition's eyes. Him being there up front gave the team a lot more space; it allowed the likes of Lampard and Malouda and others to chip in with goals as well. What I want from our new striker is exactly just that - I don't want a team that's over reliant on one striker's goals. I'd rather have a striker up front who complements the team and allows the likes of Hazard, Mata, Oscar and Moses to chip in with goals. I'd rather us have a multidimensional threat up front rather than the other way around.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

1. You rarly seen him creating his own goals? you havent seen him enough.

2. That sentence with Drogba playing LB at Camp Nou.... what? thats realy isnt something to think about when you're buying a striker.

3. Any decent striker would have won us the CWC, but thats it? winning CWC means something? we should have a striker who is good enough to win us the CL, the leauge, not just a striker who is "Better than Torres". Because Torres is so awful alot of you just want to change him for anyone, for January its ok, but in the longer term we should get someone in the highest level because thats the team we want to be.

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.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Why doesn't he suit our style? We need someone who stretches the play by playing on the last man. We need a guy who can run the channels and finish chances. That is Falcao. He also seems available and willing to come, as well as being particularly admired by the guy who our owner wants as our manager in six months time.

Majority of teams won't be playing a high line in order for Falcao to be on the last man all the time. We're transforming into a possession based side - teams will sit deep against us. It'll be harder to find Falcao in the box where he is most lethal.

We don't want him to run the channels and stretch play - that's not what he's best at at all. Everyone knows Falcao is the most lethal in the box and the way our team is being set up at the moment (unless we're going to transition into hitting the ball early to our striker, which I doubt - personally I think that it's just a temporary thing to accommodate Torres) I think we could do with a striker who is great at bringing others into play whilst also being a threat in the box himself.

[The only place to be 11,313]

My point was that Radamel still has a long way to go to be as much a big game player as Drogba

He's not played in as many big games. But in the Europa League at Porto, he scored the winner in the Final. For Madrid, he scored TWO in the final of the same competition and in the Super Cup he scored THREE.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Majority of teams won't be playing a high line in order for Falcao to be on the last man all the time. We're transforming into a possession based side - teams will sit deep against us. It'll be harder to find Falcao in the box where he is most lethal.

We don't want him to run the channels and stretch play - that's not what he's best at at all. Everyone knows Falcao is the most lethal in the box and the way our team is being set up at the moment (unless we're going to transition into hitting the ball early to our striker, which I doubt - personally I think that it's just a temporary thing to accommodate Torres) I think we could do with a striker who is great at bringing others into play whilst also being a threat in the box himself.

Well that first point makes no sense - there's always a least man no matter where the line is. What he does is stop defenders from being able to step up which creates more space in midfield.

There are also channels to be run even if you dominate possession. Look how many chances we've created from wide where Torres simply isn't in the right spot. He actually managed to do it against Sunderland for his first goal but that was the exception rather than the norm. If we had a guy who did that in every game, we'd be in a much stronger position.

Look at Barcelona - they dominate possession yet this is how Messi scores goals

His most common ‘method’ of scoring is to take possession within the 18-yard box, either by running onto a through ball, or by finding space to collect another type of pass or pounce onto a rebound. Of the 234 goals, 145 were scored this way, or 61.97 per cent. These 145 goals include all his 12 headed goals.

That's what we need.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

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.

A lot. You dont realy know him and you havent seen him enough, thats what i think. He's not just a poacher who waits for crosses and through balls, thats realy ridiculous for me to read. Seems like you built a profile for him but it realy doesnt suits the reality. Everyone who saw him regulary for the past 3-4 seasons will tell you that Falcao is a phenomenon, give him the ball in the box/a bit outside the box/on counter, and there is a very good chance he will score or at least test the keeper. Making him a poacher like Inzhagi or Gomez is just so foolish.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Well that first point makes no sense - there's always a least man no matter where the line is. What he does is stop defenders from being able to step up which creates more space in midfield.

There are also channels to be run even if you dominate possession. Look how many chances we've created from wide where Torres simply isn't in the right spot. He actually managed to do it against Sunderland for his first goal but that was the exception rather than the norm. If we had a guy who did that in every game, we'd be in a much stronger position.

Look at Barcelona - they dominate possession yet this is how Messi scores goals

His most common method of scoring is to take possession within the 18-yard box, either by running onto a through ball, or by finding space to collect another type of pass or pounce onto a rebound. Of the 234 goals, 145 were scored this way, or 61.97 per cent. These 145 goals include all his 12 headed goals.

That's what we need.

What I'm trying to say in my first point is that it won't matter whether Falcao stays on his last man when a team plays deep against us - simply because he will rarely have space to run into. Of course there's more to Falcao than that so he will definitely score goals, but I think that the overall impact another striker in the mould of a Cavani, Ibra or RVP (basically strikers who are excellent outside the box) would be more justifiable than just having a striker who's main attribute is being a predator in the box.

Again, from what I have seen from Falcao, he isn't really the sort of striker that runs into channels IMO. The Messi analogy is interesting but I don't think it's relevant to Falcao's case either - Falcao isn't the sort of player who can take the ball from deep and breeze past players like Messi does. Barcelona style of play also includes loads of intricate passes and through balls so its natural Messi will score from those positions - Falcao's case is different though as he (usually) clearly thrives on being fed the ball in or near the box, not like Messi who can take the ball from anywhere, drive to the 18 yard box and score. You can't compare Messi + Barcelona to anyone.

What CHOULO and I are trying to say is that even though Falcao would score goals for us as he is a great player, but someone like Cavani could have a greater impact on the team.

I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if we signed Falcao but I'd be happier if we got Cavani.