Radamel Falcao

[Reddish-Blue 2,345]

He can use it as a recruitment tool for the coming season. If players see that a name as big as Falcao is willing to go there, they can too.

Just like PSG. Lucas last season see's a bunch of big names go there and has the pick of just about every big club to choose from but opts for PSG because they paid him WAY more than he was worth.

Lucas only had two options....PSG or Man United. Real Madrid wanted him in 2 seasons time..

Then United pulled out because they didn't want to pay over 30 million.

That left Lucas with an easy option...take a massive pay increase and go to PSG or stay in Brazil for another year..

[Leif 6,006]

What Falcao doesn't bring to a team:-

Defensive contribution - He has good aerial ability, but he's rarely brought back for corners or opposition free-kicks as since he's used to having a team built around him, he's relied upon to finish the chances. He can't do that from a counter-attack if he's in his own box. He also doesn't have the pace to counter-attack greatly. (I'm not saying he has zero pace so no one bring that up.)

Decent passing - You expect a striker to be able to pass a ball. From what I see, he's slightly above Torres when it comes to passing - not a compliment. The amount of times he tries to pass to Turan or Koke only to see it go well wide of his target and out for a throw-in is baffling.

Set-piece taking - He can't take consistent free-kicks to save his life. He scored 1 'screamer' free-kick I believe at Porto and 1 injury-time free-kick game winner a month ago or so for Atletico. All his other hits have been over the bar, over the wall, or into the 'keeper's hands.

Physical presence - Yes, he may be 'strong' for his size and have decent aerial ability, but he doesn't bring it all together. He can't act as a focal point. He can barely hold the ball up for his teammates unless he's against a novice defender who tries to hack at his legs from behind.

Crossing ability - Force him out wide and he won't be getting a cheeky rabona cross in like Torres or a low-driven cross in like Drogba, but instead a 'was that a shot or a cross?', cross.

A 'never give up' attitude - That's not to say he won't score at the end of the game to save a point or win all 3, but he doesn't fight for his team - ever. He rarely chases the opposition. He never seems to break a sweat. If you go to Madrid and look up their most recent dictionary, find "Lazy" or even "Lethargic" on one of the pages. I'd put the chances of seeing a little scribbled Falcao face next to one of the words very high.

What he does bring to a team: -

Great finishing in 1-on-1 situations and long-shots which will almost always test the 'keeper.

'Movement' apparently which'll get him into the position to do the above.

Creativity. Not when it comes to movement or passing, but when it comes down to "shall i chip the ball into the net? shall i take an athletic shot? how about both!".

He'll head the ball into the net if you cross the ball to his head.

But let's just break this down even further.

1: Do we have decent crossers in our team? No! Our players can barely cross to save their lives. That's his aerial ability already useless aside from when Cech boots it up-field. Don't think Schurrle will fix this either if he arrives. He'd much rather shoot at goal and leave a frustrated Falcao with his hands pointing where he wanted the ball. Can you picture it? I can.

2: If the opposition 'keeper is on top form and thus nullifies Falcao's finishing, what else can he do? ... Does he have that Drogba-like understanding of the striker role where he can drag defenders away and create space for another goal-threat? From what I've seen, no.

Can he act as a Target Man simply to offer support to the players around him? No. Aerial ability can't be confused with target man ability. That can wind up dangerous.

3: Is he versatile? I've never seen him play anywhere but as the loan striker up front with supporting players out-wide. I'll assume not but I could be wrong.

Yet still it seems to boil down to people on here wanting to pay tens of millions for a player who they simply see as a 'great' finisher (if you go by his Youtube clips or his freak game against us, that is. He misses just as many shots as other strikers. Only his technique is better in my and many pundits eyes, not finishing.). Yes?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity

Now, realistic alternatives who'd likely cost less than Falcao's price-tag yet offer far more and have on-par or close-enough 'finishing':

Lewandowski

Lukaku

Rooney

Cavani (He's leaving Napoli at the end of season. The reported prices are rubbish and he'll go for what he's worth.)

Kalou

That's just off the top of my head. If i revise the list in the morning i'll be able to add 20 players.

You know that Jackson Martinez player at Porto? Ask around Porto fans and even Benfica fans. He is considered to be much better, yes, much better than Falcao. He doesn't have as many 'show-reel goals', but when it comes to your own team that's not what you want. You want the player who is better for your team. Martinez is much more of an all-round striker who actually contributes to the team when he's on a dry-run without scoring. (That said, he currently has 25 goals in 27 league games with Porto.)

My conclusion: Falcao has been given the title: "King Of The Europa League". It's for good reason. That is his level; Europe's 2nd-tier, playing for Madrid's 2nd-tier club. He's a player for the highlight reels. The fact he even seems to entertain the idea of moving to LIGUE 2 club (but soon to be Ligue 1) Monaco shows that he knows this. For every 'wondergoal' you show me of his, if it's on Youtube or Vimeo, I'll be able to find an easy miss.

The teams he's played in have all been built around him. No Premier League teams work like that. It's not how the league works. You won't survive if you rely on one player no matter how good they may be.

I feel like the casual fan of football who sees the media hype surrounding Falcao (the media are clueless at times), a few Youtube goals and was lucky enough to conveniently watch one of his better games get the impression he'd somehow improve their team. In this case regarding Chelsea you would be wrong. He'd be the 'team'. And what happens when you build the players around you to suit Falcao (it's the only way he performs to a decent level) and he gets injured?

No Falcao, no party. (But if Summer ends, the transfer window closes and there's no Falcao here, I'll have my own party.)

[TacticalBlues 2,817]

Leif, on 13 May 2013 - 12:24 AM, said:

But what does he do with that movement exactly? Get himself into scoring positions - but I said to discount finishing, so in this respect it's useless.

He doesn't use that 'movement' like Drogba does; To drag away defenders and create space specifically for a teammate to take advantage of.

It would and will also be debated that his movement is as good as 'great'. He's like a ton of led stood still for most of the game until his teammates get into the final 3rd.

That's palpably nonsensical. Your saying ignore a attribute which leads to goal scoring opportunities? Falcao by his very nature is a rematador and fundamentally a striker. Also this isn't Hernandez we're talking about, this is Falcao.

Since youth he's been touted for greatness, making his debut in the Colombian league at 13 years old. The reason it took so long for the world to recognise his talents was down to his knee ligament problems. This also impacted his attitude today when Falcao plays you see the dedication. Their's not an ounce of fat on him! He's strong (not excessively), quick, technically gifted but most importantly CLEVER and score from any position. He has a natural instinct to score. The name El tigre is testemant to his predatory instincts.

Whenever he has been fit he scored goals. He was the first player to be top scorer in the Europa League for two consecutive seasons (albeit Europa) and has also achieved loads of other great milestones. Over 100 goals in Europe, make no illusions he's a world class striker whether you want him here or not. His record speaks for himself and wherever he goes he scores, he will score a lot of them. I'm not saying I want him here particularly but to insinuate he's not world class is wrong.

[Leif 6,006]

@Eviltwinz93,

But that's my point. That's just 3 paragraphs (well-written and all valid) about finishing. Just being a good finisher doesn't make you world-class. If Messi had his current level of finishing but none of the work-rate, passing, pace, dribbling and creativity, he wouldn't be 'world class'. If you took away Ronaldo's exact same traits and just left him with his finishing no one would consider him world class. So why the exception for Falcao? If he's been deemed for greatness, why is he plying his trade at Madrid's 2nd club and looking likely to move to one of French football's smallest clubs?

[JDY 1,290]

@Eviltwinz93,

But that's my point. That's just 3 paragraphs (well-written and all valid) about finishing. Just being a good finisher doesn't make you world-class. If Messi had his current level of finishing but none of the work-rate, passing, pace, dribbling and creativity, he wouldn't be 'world class'. If you took away Ronaldo's exact same traits and just left him with his finishing no one would consider him world class. So why the exception for Falcao? If he's been deemed for greatness, why is he plying his trade at Madrid's 2nd club and looking likely to move to one of French football's smallest clubs?

Because no other club is stupid enough to pay what Atletico are asking. In this sense, I agree he's been overrated.

[Leif 6,006]

Chelsea, City, Anzhi, PSG and so on have all had the money to sign him for around 2 seasons now.

Before that, when he was at Porto, you could easily add Man United, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, even teams like Tottenham, Roma, Malaga & Bayer Leverkusen. (He was sold to Atletico for £33m, but they definitely got ripped off IMO. Coulda left for around £25m had someone played hard-ball.)

My question is - Why did none of these clubs, and so many more, not sign him? Could it be that the collective wisdom of football personnel on those club's boards saw through the media hype too?

He wasn't 'unknown' like some claim. Any follower of Portuguese football, South American football, even just Europa League football knew who this guy was because of his stats.

The stats look enticing, but once upon a time so did Diego Forlan's, Robinho's, Juan Veron's, Kleberson's, Anderson's, Jo's, Crespo's, Shevchenko's, Kezman's & Afonso Alves's.

If my memory serves me correctly, the only player to actually bring their sort of stats from a smaller league to the big league was Van Nistelrooy.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

He is a striker. If we concede a goal, its not because of striker.

IF he scores goals regulary, he will do the job.

He doesnt fit to Chelsea, becuase in fact our whole attacking side cant defend realy. Just compare United to us. Torres, Mata, Hazard and Oscar vs Rvp, Rooney, Valencia and Young/welbeck/...

Just because Falcao isnt defensive skilled, doesnt mean he isnt world class striker. If whole team does the job, striker needs no hard work but to score.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Take away his finishing. Make it irrelevant for a second.

Someone name 1 attribute he has which is 'great' please. I may grow a full beard before someone can think of something.

He is striker. His job is to score goals. If you have well build team (everyone does its job) you can play with someone like Falcao. He needs one player to give him ball and he will do the job. Had real have Falcao instead of Higuain vs Bvb, real would play in finale. That is the difference between Falcao and other strikers. He needs world class team mates to play even on higher level. But he will deliver goals too.

But for our team and teams in general, we need more versatile striker. Mata/Hazard dont realy help defence and we cant just go with another player who does nothing in defence. But that is not Falcaos problem, its ours. You cant say he is overrated because of that. He would fit great in barca/Real who need just that precise finishing to reach next level.

Lewandowski on other hand is superbly versatile striker who has scoring ups and downs. BUT his versatile play with link up, passing is also very dependant on his team mates. He evolved his link up great with Reus and Co. But here, he will get whole new team and one can wonder how will he link up with new players. Kagawa and Sahin were raised in Bvb system, but they are only half players at Rm or MU than at Bvb. See the point? If he wont link up with our team, he will have only inconsistent finishing. Then again, Cavani always played counter football at Napoli. Will he fit here? He wont get the same support as in Napoli. Ba was joint top striker of epl when he arrived, then he lost it. Finishing went off, his link up a bit. He also had less support than before. He scores goals but much less than before.

Im not saying we should go after Falcao, personaly I rate Cavani, Lewa and Rooney more, due to Falcao unfitting to this team, but if these players score now, you cant know if they will score here too. I would say give Mou whole decision on which striker ti bring. Money is irrelevant as long striker will do his job.

At this point, all have had top seasons in their clubs, you cant say Falcao is overrated because he plays for second madrid club. Cavani plays for Napoli aswell. And those Monaco rumours are as true as those that Falcao is our player already. And Hulk and Rooney and...

BAsed on press rumours (that were actualy denied by monaco coach) you dare to judge Falcao and saying he is second tier striker because he reportedly (actualy media) chose to join Monaco? Based on tweeter shit and daily fail etc? Remember rumours about Falcao to cfc, or Hulk to cfc? Are they our players now? Is Falcao Monacos player?

[Jype 6,398]

Chelsea, City, Anzhi, PSG and so on have all had the money to sign him for around 2 seasons now.

Before that, when he was at Porto, you could easily add Man United, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, even teams like Tottenham, Roma, Malaga & Bayer Leverkusen. (He was sold to Atletico for £33m, but they definitely got ripped off IMO. Coulda left for around £25m had someone played hard-ball.)

My question is - Why did none of these clubs, and so many more, not sign him? Could it be that the collective wisdom of football personnel on those club's boards saw through the media hype too?

He wasn't 'unknown' like some claim. Any follower of Portuguese football, South American football, even just Europa League football knew who this guy was because of his stats.

The stats look enticing, but once upon a time so did Diego Forlan's, Robinho's, Juan Veron's, Kleberson's, Anderson's, Jo's, Crespo's, Shevchenko's, Kezman's & Afonso Alves's.

If my memory serves me correctly, the only player to actually bring their sort of stats from a smaller league to the big league was Van Nistelrooy.

Are you seriously implying that Falcao is not a proven striker because he has only scored a goal per game in the La Liga and not the supposedly better Premier League? Players like Michu, Santi Cazorla and even our very own Juan Mata have all come from there and already in their first seasons done better in the EPL than they had ever done in the La Liga. What makes you think Falcao would be any different, if he were to join a team that actually plays well with strikers (City and Utd, definitely not us).

It really shouldn't even be questioned whether or not Falcao would suit the Premier League and be a massive success, he most certainly would, but the only question mark is if there are better options out there for a cheaper price who could suit our team better. In the past 6 years or so, other than Drogba there hasn't been a successful striker at Chelsea so Falcao could well be a flop here as well but that does not mean he wouldn't be a huge hit at some other top club who just so happens can't afford him. Whoever comes in the summer, be it Falcao or anyone else for that matter, should be thoroughly scouted to make absolutely sure he's a player who suits our team the best. We simply can't afford to have another Torres on our hands, although I believe Mourinho, should he come, will already know who he wants and I trust his judgement.

[themightyblue 443]

He's going to have to rip us apart again for people to realise how good he is and what we're missing out on when we inevitably sign a striker who isn't on the same level as him

[themightyblue 443]

@Leif

And it's absolutely ridiculous to say 'take away his finishing' when it's one of the main things that makes him world class. It's just like saying 'take away passing ability' if we were linked with Pirlo, Scholes or Alonso. It's a silly argument. Also just because YOU don't rate a player highly, doesn't mean his reputation has come about because of media hype. Especially when top managers like Guardiola say that they'd love to have him in there team. He'd be playing for Madrid next season if it wasn't for the rule of Atletico players not signing for Real. Fact is, in this day and age of FFP it is very hard for clubs to now spend upwards of 50m on one player solely, especially if they have other positions to fill. It's why Cavani will also struggle to move. Only teams like PSG, Monaco, Madrid and Bayern are well placed to make acquisitions like that

[Thor 2,392]

I think a lot of people will be disappointed if he does end up coming here. He'll be a good player, not great, and definitely won't justify what is being reported in terms of buying him.

How exactly does he fit in with our style of play? When we get into our oppositions third, we like to play possession heavy, link up play, finding the best shot at goal. Falcao is not a great passer, not that great with the ball at his feet, and fully utilize one of his strengths in speed to get away from his opponents like usual. How exactly do people see him fitting in to our team?

EDIT: Look at the goals he scored against us... Everything on the counter, on the run with the defense not set. Everyone knows how much our midfield likes to pass the ball around, and I just don't see him thriving like he did at Athletico.

[themightyblue 443]

I think a lot of people will be disappointed if he does end up coming here. He'll be a good player, not great, and definitely won't justify what is being reported in terms of buying him.

How exactly does he fit in with our style of play? When we get into our oppositions third, we like to play possession heavy, link up play, finding the best shot at goal. Falcao is not a great passer, not that great with the ball at his feet, and fully utilize one of his strengths in speed to get away from his opponents like usual. How exactly do people see him fitting in to our team?

You see I understand that argument until I see the same people pining for us to sign Cavani, who's success has all come about from a fully counter-attacking system. One thing I would say about Falcao is while at Porto under Avb, he played in possession-orientated team and as we know flourished, But then again, it's the Portuguese league where the standard isn't as high

[Thor 2,392]

You see I understand that argument until I see the same people pining for us to sign Cavani, who's success has all come about from a fully counter-attacking system. One thing I would say about Falcao is while at Porto under Avb, he played in possession-orientated team and as we know flourished, But then again, it's the Portuguese league where the standard isn't as high

I'm honestly in the camp for neither. I'm more of the perspective of signing a more all round, better with the ball at his feet type player like Dzeko. Also keep developing Lukaku, whether its here or on loan still.

[Special Juan 27,424]

I like Falcao but if his choice is Monaco then so be it, there is other fish out there.

Go Chelsea.

[jmarlow 458]

Take away his finishing. Make it irrelevant for a second.

Someone name 1 attribute he has which is 'great' please. I may grow a full beard before someone can think of something.

His Movement is phenomenal and looks so natural, his awareness to find space in the box is something you cant teach! He is also very good at creating that half a yard of space he needs to put the ball in the back of the net, he also has good strength and is not easy to knock off the ball and has good pace to get away from defenders, he can take penalties and free-kicks and has a true strikers mentality when he misses a chance he doesn't go hiding he becomes even more determined for the next chance and is always a real handful for a defender to play against.

No matter what way you look at him he is World class at what he does! and if you cant see that then your clearly lying to yourself!

[Special Juan 27,424]

There is a balance required here and some careful thinking needed before we start spunking 50M plus another so called top striker, do we stick or twist here? Rooney would cost less, we also have Lukaku to bring in, there is Lewandowski to consider also.

I'd like to think we can go for two things, versatility of Rooney but also keeping Lukaku right in there. But people like Lewandowski fit our style of play very well and he wouldn't be 50 odd million.

This is why I say it's a big summer, very careful planning needed to get the right person/s

[Toli 977]

^ lewandowski wants to bayern though.