Radamel Falcao

[Roquila 1,335]

No smoke without fire as they say and at the moment there is a lot of smoke about Falcao and Chelsea . A world class striker like him will make us real contenders for everything .

There is smoke since 2011 about Falcao and Chelsea and there was no fire

[BlueLyon 9,359]

If Rvp who was aged 29 when he joined Manu for 25mio, I wouldnt pay penny over 40 for Falcao who will turn 28 in february.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

If Rvp who was aged 29 when he joined Manu for 25mio, I wouldnt pay penny over 40 for Falcao who will turn 28 in february.

Not happening then. Monaco are rich bitches. Even 50m is far-fetched.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Disagree that plenty of teams are getting by without one - if you look at all of the top teams in Europe right now (Madrid, Barca, Bayern, Dortmund, City) they all have great DLPs - Alonso/Modric, Xavi, Schweinsteiger, Gundogan, Fernandinho etc. whilst we don't at all. I wouldn't say they're match winners - but what they do do is provide the platform for a match winner.

Even when United won the title last season, a lot of their fans had Carrick down as POTS instead of RVP.

Buying Falcao will still not fix our inability to break down defences. If it had to come down to it I'd definitely rather invest in the pivot than up front.

I agree with your point but - City are never top 5 in Europe, all those teams you mentioned with them embarrassed them easily in the last few seasons; Carrick was never a DLP last season; Fernandinho doesnt play as one in City, they play him as a CDM and his "DLP qualities" from Shaktar arent shown almost. Toure is the playmaker there, and he's alot worse at that than Alonso, Xavi, Schweinsteiger, Gundogan.

[ZOS 580]

I disagree. We are just not very good at creating chances and has been the case since the Roman era. ( I don't count Drogba bullying defence as being creative). I;m referring to the ability to constantly split open opposition defence with different array of offensive arsenal i.e long range through pass, diagonal balls, excellent overlapping runs and crossing, cut backs, quick combination passing.

That has never been our identity since Roman took over. we were actually far more creative during the Zola, Di matteo, gullit era. Drogba and lampard have, for so long, masked our deficiency in that regard. Ancelotti's first and double winning season was the outlier, an exception rather than the rule. creating chances is just not our forte, it's almost as if we are cursed. . . .no matter how much we invest, or the players we buy, it never changes anything.

can't agree enough. We need to be able to possess the ball and pin the opposition down in their own box area for a considerable amount of time to create these chances. Not only are we incapable of doing that but we have made not doing it our identity (some of us have even the audacity to rubbish such way of playing). In my opinion the problem has much to do with our build up play than the lack of certain quality in the squad. It is not just the pivot (although much of the blame should go to them) as it might clearly seem. I believe it is the combination of

• the way the whole squad is positioned when Cech rolls the ball out to the defenders
• the attacking midfielders not helping the back six in the build up
• the tendency of our defenders not to pass to players in a 'tighter' holes b/n opposition lines
• our inability to press the opposition, force mistakes and recycle possession (can't stress on this enough)

I believe JM is a clever guy and he understands these problems and more, he just need to grow some balls and take action

[magic weeds 446]

No smoke without fire as they say and at the moment there is a lot of smoke about Falcao and Chelsea . A world class striker like him will make us real contenders for everything .

There has been a lot of smoke and fire concerning Falcao, Aguero, but nothing happened. I just dont want to get my hopes high.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Next year we have give lukaku a chance as our top striker! falcao had a opportunity to play for us or any other big club in europe but he chose money! how old is he? we don't wanna spend 60 million on a striker that can be good for 2 seasons! would be better to give Lukaku true chance we don't wanna miss a talent like him after we lost sturridge.

He had a 3rd party deal in place that's why he went to monaco, they basically bought him out of it.

[The Skipper 20,593]

I agree with your point but - City are never top 5 in Europe, all those teams you mentioned with them embarrassed them easily in the last few seasons; Carrick was never a DLP last season; Fernandinho doesnt play as one in City, they play him as a CDM and his "DLP qualities" from Shaktar arent shown almost. Toure is the playmaker there, and he's alot worse at that than Alonso, Xavi, Schweinsteiger, Gundogan.

When I say DLP I don't mean someone that is the primary playmaker of the team - what I am saying is that they are midfielders in the ilk of a DLP - one that can switch it from attack to defence easily; one that starts off the attacks in midfield - which is exactly what the likes of Fernandinho and Carrick do for their respective teams. Fernandinho isn't given as much responsibility on the creative end for City as he had for Shakhtar but that doesn't mean he is merely a CDM for City. Also, if Carrick wasn't a DLP last season then what was he?

I wasn't saying City were top 5 in Europe either - but what I was saying is that they are one of the top European sides, especially when their attack clicks.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Is that you, Mourinho??? I'll go then........

[yuvala 2,167]

Can watch this over and over.. world class, sublime finish.

[Atlas Lion 1,223]

No thanks.

[Tomo 21,733]

The thing is, Monaco is actually an very attractive project.

Tax free wages, living by the sea in a beautiful place, next year they will have CL football (they have far to good individual's not to get it in that league) which will mean Monaco will be one of the go to places in world football.

If players will go Russia for money, they will be whoring them-self's to the slightest bit of Monaco interest.

[Korea 734]

The thing is, Monaco is actually an very attractive project.

Tax free wages, living by the sea in a beautiful place, next year they will have CL football (they have far to good individual's not to get it in that league) which will mean Monaco will be one of the go to places in world football.

If players will go Russia for money, they will be whoring them-self's to the slightest bit of Monaco interest.

To live in London or Monaco, haha..

Its a no brainer... With everything else you said as well...

[Las7 951]

Monaco won't be TAX FREE by next season, hence why all these rumours are popping out

Apparently his wages will be cut in half due to the new tax which will effect Monaco if they want to keep playing in the French League. He is currently on a massive 250k pounds per week

[yuvala 2,167]

I dont think that its about the money ... I believe the 3rd party ownership thing.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

This talk of DLP being paramount to our success is getting so tiresome.

The game has moved beyond the central midfielders, most teams play either 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-2-2 (some cases 4-3-3) The point is in the Prem the need for a strength and ball winning ability is much more important than having a DLP. The reason is we look poor in attack has more to do with our collective movement than it does our pivot... Having said that if we put Ramires next to someone like Pogba we'd be a formidable side and our attacking players can focus solely on attacking(As evidenced by Hazard on the weekend). I firmly believe that the DLP role is becoming less prevalent and the modern CM has to be much more aware defensively than he does going forward, for that reason I would rather us grab another ball winner with mobility(clone Ramires) than get a Pirlo/Benat/Modric...

Everyone is screaming for a midfielder who can tackle and link the play from defense to attack from the pivot, that is a skill VERY FEW possess and what's more is its a job very few want to play.

If we add Falcao what he will do is provide us with a clinician in the final 3rd, a guy that scores goals when given few opportunities to do so. THAT'S what is missing, grabbing a CM who can pass and is forward thinking will not stop teams from defending deep against us, and unless this player is positionally aware and capable of a tackle it could hurt us.

We're seeing it now with Eto'o, he's not at the level of Falcao anymore but his movement and touch is providing our players with more room to exploit in the final third. The only thing Eto'o is lacking right now is power and pace(and a rub of the green).

Falcao has the ability to win matches with only a couple touches, that's what I'd like from my striker, the ability to impact a game without having to be involved immensely. Soldado is a perfect example of a frustrated striker who is being pulled out of position in order to have some sort of an impact on the game... its not working and his impatience is showing when you look at the areas he is getting touches and the few times that is happening in and around the box. You compare that to Falcao and you see a completely different chart. He may not get the same amount of touches but the ones he does get are without a doubt in and around the box where he can be most dangerous.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect most Chelsea fan's perspective on the matter but for me when you have an elite level striker leading the line the trickle down effect throughout the team is immense! Falcao is of that quality and that's why we're looking to add him(hopefully). A deep lying playmaker for my money is a luxury we don't need unless of course that player is well adept at winning the ball and strong in the defensive aspects of the game. Its more important to have a pivot who have positional awareness and strong instincts as to when to go forward than it is to have a guy who will link the defense to attack.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

I dont think that its about the money ... I believe the 3rd party ownership thing.

Agreed.

If you ask me Monaco, Mendes, Chelsea and Falcao had an end game in mind. Get Falcao out of the 3rd party ownership agreement and move to Chelsea when the next opportunity arrived. Everything that's transpired makes so much sense now.

- Falcao goes to Monaco who don't play in the Champions League and thusly won't cup tie Falcao in January

- Monaco were able to pay top dollar to get him out of the 3rd party deal. (no other team not in Champions League could afford to do it)

- Lukaku gets loaned to Everton for the year allowing him the full year to flourish as no.1 and not as a 3rd option. Next year he's no.2(with Falcao alleviating the pressure)

- Eto'o signs a one year deal. Will likely be moved on next summer...

All speculation but I always thought Falcao went to monaco to get decent return on his 3rd party ownership from and another Russian and friend of Roman's.... We'll see how it plays out.

[yuvala 2,167]

Agreed.

If you ask me Monaco, Mendes, Chelsea and Falcao had an end game in mind. Get Falcao out of the 3rd party ownership agreement and move to Chelsea when the next opportunity arrived. Everything that's transpired makes so much sense now.

- Falcao goes to Monaco who don't play in the Champions League and thusly won't cup tie Falcao in January

- Monaco were able to pay top dollar to get him out of the 3rd party deal. (no other team not in Champions League could afford to do it)

- Lukaku gets loaned to Everton for the year allowing him the full year to flourish as no.1 and not as a 3rd option. Next year he's no.2(with Falcao alleviating the pressure)

- Eto'o signs a one year deal. Will likely be moved on next summer...

All speculation but I always thought Falcao went to monaco to get decent return on his 3rd party ownership from and another Russian and friend of Roman's.... We'll see how it plays out.

Haha I wish you're right but I dont think so..