Radamel Falcao

[Special Juan 27,439]

Ready to give him my full support, not only that, I think Jose could be brilliant for him.

[1chelsea 864]

Waiting WAITING waiting to see what this place would look like next season good or bad with the "I said so" here and there

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

Rafa time:

Shit for an entire PL season - fact.

Downhill after Monaco move - fact.

Nosedive after his injury - fact.

We are taking more of a gamble than usual - fact.

These are the facts I refer to. The extremely optimistic people here don't like them or simply like to ignore them.

Now watch people who are assuming he'll be 'El Tigre' next season like your post...

Facts for next season I was referring to

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

Facts for next season I was referring to

Also if you'd show me where my post suggested he'll be el tigra or whatever again that'd be great! I've never stated he'll be good bad or indifferent.. just that I'll get behind him.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

What is all this talk about Falcao pushing Remy out? You have to fight for your shirt! Maybe Remy doesn't want to do that because he wants to play for France at home in the Euros(likely his last one). Honestly I love Remy, he came to us for cheap, put his head down and played relatively well. He wasn't the perfect foil to Costa because he too got injured but for a guy who was on the pitch a total of 728 minutes scoring 9 goals is extremely impressive. If he goes we will have to replace him with class and I don't mean Falcao... He's Drogba's replacement.

Now, lets try something here. Lets look at some stats to see the differences between that piss poor Utd squad and the Champions. If a striker is to score he will without question need servicing, at Utd the people who made the most passes per game were

Daley Blind - 63.3 passes per game

Michael Carrick(though injured for most) - 60.5

Marcos Rojo - 60.1

Jonny Evans - 59.8

Ander Herrera - 59.8

Phil Jones - 52.7

Valencia - 52.3

Wayne Rooney - 50.3

Those are the guys who were seeing the ball most at Utd. As far as who was making the incisive pass it looks like this.

DiMaria - 1.9 key passes per game 10 assists

Mata - 1.5 / 4

Rooney 1.4 / 5

Young 1.3 / 5

Herrera 1 / 4

DiMaria made 31 passes a game, Mata made 44 meanwhile Blind (who created 0.7 key passes) is on the ball much more than anyone. For those that actually watched Utd play these numbers don't lie, they played a slow, laborious build up that rarely looked incisive or cutting edge. Teams could just sit back and allow their CB's to pass it back and forth to each other.

With Chelsea this is the total opposite our best chance creators were on the ball constantly. Cesc averaged 80.6 passes per game, 2.8 key passes and 18 assists. Hazard - 58.4 / 2.7 / 9. Oscar 46.1 / 1.3 / 8

This is part of the reason I am quietly optimistic, I know we have a better set up and will generate more chances for him to capitalize on. Now on the whole 2nd/3rd striker nonsense I think the language is misleading, for Jose and most smart managers it will be 1st choice(Costa) and situational backups(Remy/Drogba). If Remy decides he wants more than a situational role then he has every right to leave, what I'm most concerned with is who will come in to replace him and what are his attributes? Both Remy and Falcao strike me as guys that lay dormant in until they are in the box(fox in the box strikers or poachers). When we had Drogba we had a guy capable of holding up the play and winning a large amount of aerial duels, Falcao or Remy can't do that... Neither can Costa really. So for me if Remy were to go I'd love to see someone like Benteke or Austin come into the fold to give us the versatility we need in our three strikers. Austin is very good in the air, he wins 2.6 duels a game( by comparison Drogba won 1.6 and Costa 1.3) Benteke, who obviously will cost more won 6.5!!! That is another level all together...

It will be interesting to see what happens but either way we need to trust the manager, staff and board... they get it right more often than not and in Jose's case he's earned the right to work with whoever he deems fit. Remember part of his genius is working with people who allow him to get into his head, perhaps he sees Falcao in a similar light and will work his dog whisperer magic on him?

[Gilvorak 3,734]

I'm still in belief that once a striker loses confidence & especially after a major injury there's no return. We saw it with Shevchenko, we saw it with Nando and it'll be the same story all over again with Falcao. Obviously, there will be way less pressure on his shoulders to perform than the former two but it'll matter very little. I wish we'd showed more imagination as we did with Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Azpilicueta a couple of years ago rather than taking a punt on seasoned veterans & hoping for the best.

One things for certain if this place becomes anything like it was during the Torres era then it's definitely not going to be any fun to come to. I know I'm not the only one who kept cringing at vile abuse being thrown towards his way. Spouse, children, siblings, no one was off limits to those guys. Every topic no matter how irrelevant automatically became a discussion about Torres. Hopefully the mods do a better job this time around.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

And why are people comparing Shevy and Torres to Falcao? Who cares if Falcao doesn't return to his former self? Do we need him to? Shevy and Torres were bought to be our first choice striker and they failed. Falcao is third choice on loan... That is a SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE and not the standard we should be comparing him too.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

I'm still in belief that once a striker loses confidence & especially after a major injury there's no return. We saw it with Shevchenko, we saw it with Nando and it'll be the same story all over again with Falcao. Obviously, there will be way less pressure on his shoulders to perform than the former two but it'll matter very little. I wish we'd showed more imagination as we did with Hazard, Oscar, Mata, Azpilicueta a couple of years ago rather than taking a punt on seasoned veterans & hoping for the best.

So for our third choice striker who would you have? Which would you deem to be an imaginative selection? LOL... This isn't a rebuild, we're champions! This is a retooling!

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Why are some people pretending we're Barca/Madrid? Do we really create that many more chances at Chelsea than Man United do? The correct answer would be no. Sure we have Fabregas & Hazard but that doesn't mean we don't regularly go through stretches in games where we struggle to create a meaningful chance. We aren't a great transition team at all (just the 1 goal on the counter last season), we don't attempt or complete those 'killer' passes very often (apart from Cesc none of our players really have that pass in their locker) & of the other contenders only Liverpool cross the ball less than we do which is obviously something Falcao thrives on most.

If a club in England is ever going to 'revive' a player like Falcao that thrives on service it'll either be Man City or Arsenal. A player like Benzema is the prototype our system needs.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Why are some people pretending we're Barca/Madrid? Do we really create that many more chances at Chelsea than Man United do? The correct answer would be no. Sure we have Fabregas & Hazard but that doesn't mean we don't regularly go through stretches in games where we struggle to create a meaningful chance. We aren't a great transition team at all (just the 1 goal on the counter last season), we don't attempt or complete those 'killer' passes very often (apart from Cesc none of our players really have that pass in their locker) & of the other contenders only Liverpool cross the ball less than we do which is obviously something Falcao thrives on most.

If a club in England is ever going to 'revive' a player like Falcao that thrives on service it'll either be Man City or Arsenal. A player like Benzema is the prototype our system needs.

LOL.... Are you for real?

[Gilvorak 3,734]

So for our third choice striker who would you have? Which would you deem to be an imaginative selection? LOL... This isn't a rebuild, we're champions! This is a retooling

Champions can't settle. Costa is a very good player but as he is he's a level or two behind the likes of Suarez, Aguero, Benzema, Ibrahimovic & Lewandowski.

If I were Emenalo, Mourinho I'd be looking to sign potential at this point. A young striker with the skillset that matches those players to eventually take Costa's spot in the long term (2-3 seasons).

[Gilvorak 3,734]

LOL.... Are you for real?

How about you put up a decent rebuttal instead? Can you really refute anything I said?

Do we create as many chances as Arsenal or Man City? Or Barca & Madrid?

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Champions can't settle. Costa is a very good player but as he is he's a level or two behind the likes of Suarez, Aguero, Benzema, Ibrahimovic & Lewandowski.

If I were Emenalo, Mourinho I'd be looking to sign potential at this point. A young striker with the skillset that matches those players to eventually take Costa's spot in the long term (2-3 seasons).

How does signing a replacement for our 37 yr old third choice striker signify settling? And no Costa is not any worse than Benzema, Ibrahimovic or Lewandowski! The mere suggestion is ludicrous... Really? Wow.

So your idea of strengthening for a title push next season is buying a striker who is 2-3 yrs away from pushing Costa as our number 1? interesting...

[lucio 5,418]

How about you put up a decent rebuttal instead? Can you really refute anything I said?

Do we create as many chances as Arsenal or Man City? Or Barca & Madrid?

Less than city , the same as arsenal, according to statistics. City are well ahead of everyone

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

How about you put up a decent rebuttal instead? Can you really refute anything I said?

Do we create as many chances as Arsenal or Man City? Or Barca & Madrid?

I noticed you omitted Man Utd this time around... Good idea.

[Thor 2,429]

4 goals in 14 starts is mad deceiving when he's totalling 4 goals in 29 appearances for United.

Falcao is not a creative striker either. Never was.

It really isn't if you consider some of his substitution appearances were less than 10 minutes of play, and his playing time being so weirdly distributed, along with LVG coaching and making all kinds of weird changes that mess with their dynamic in the game...

None of us really know how he'll do here, but can anyone that is doubting him point to the reasons as to why they are doubting him? He looked fine physically, as well as getting into the right spots when United wasn't just hoofing balls forward to Belgian Afro man.

Apart from the terrible management at United, I don't see much lacking in his game. What is it that is the worry with this guy? He looks fine physically, so lets give him a shot and see if he can hit that form again in a more structured and suited team for him. Say what you like, but we won't be sending long balls to him like United were.

[iseah100 5,612]

Poor run of form doesn't equal past it. I'm willing to bet he hits THAT form again.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

Me too.

And if it doesn't work out, it's one season with no obligation of a purchase.

Makes me laugh people want Bamford or Solanke as a third choice striker behind the injury prone Remy and Costa. Neither are ready and need a PL loan.

So Falcao is proven in the EPL now?? He was a disaster at Man Utd. His fat, overpaid, overhyped not even 29. Apparently his real age is 32 or something like that, you are likily going to get more from Solanke or Bamford than this washed up overpaid striker. He could not even make an impact in an u21 game for Utd ffs.