Radamel Falcao: Manchester United Must Consider Loan Striker's Future in January
Radamel Falcao has so far struggled with goals and fitness since joining Manchester United on loan from AS Monaco in the summer, and manager Louis van Gaal should consider cancelling this deal in the January transfer window.
Speaking before United's Monday night Premier League clash with top-six rivals Southampton, Van Gaal told reporters that the striker "has to follow my [selection] philosophy," per the Guardian's Jamie Jackson.
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Speculation that Falcao is likely to be frustrated with his game time for the Red Devils was dismissed by Van Gaal.
Falcao has recently returned from a calf injury, sustained in October, but has only appeared as a second-half substitute since, in United's recent victories over Hull City and Stoke City.
The striker has scored just one goal in seven league appearances this season.
Van Gaal will be hoping that Falcao reaches full fitness again for United soon, but if the striker fails to do so before January, the manager should perhaps look elsewhere in the transfer market and cancel this current loan deal.
Falcao's Form in 2014/15
Falcao's one goal this season came in October's 2-1 victory over Everton at Old Trafford, and beyond this, the striker has added two assists.
Behind these more tangible statistics, Falcao has contributed less to United's all-round play when compared to fellow strikers Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, as well as summer signing Angel Di Maria.
In terms of creativity, Falcao's rate of 0.6 key passes per game pales in comparison to Van Persie's 1.2, Rooney's 1.5 and Di Maria's 2.8.
Furthermore, when it comes to devastating opposition defences with dribbles, Falcao, with only 0.7 dribbles per game, matches that of Van Persie, but the effect of Rooney (1.6) and Di Maria (2.0) dwarfs this.
Falcao is a pure goal poacher and as such can be fundamentally judged on his paltry goal record; after his first goal, Van Gaal told MUTV that Falcao was "a player who scores in every match," per ManUtd.com, but the striker has failed to continue this rate since.
However, this has clearly been blighted by injury, and Mark Ogden writes for The Telegraph that Falcao "is suffering from being in a Catch-22 situation."
Ogden continued: "If his appearances are sporadic, he will take longer to rediscover form and fitness, yet if he pushes his body beyond what it is currently capable of, he will sustain new injuries."
Van Gaal would have been wise to remain patient in nursing Falcao back to full fitness, but circumstances at United this season have changed this.
United Through Injury
This season for Van Gaal has been blighted by bizarrely regular injury problems, with key players such as Rooney and Michael Carrick facing spells on the sidelines that have considerably hampered the side's search for stability in 2014/15.
Falcao is no different, and this should be a main factor in Van Gaal's considerations.
Rooney's struggles have meant the manager has had to include Falcao despite his claims that the striker is struggling with "match fitness," according to Jackson.
Van Gaal continued, per Jackson:
"So he has trained in two training sessions [since Hull]. But a bigger contribution is to play in the second team for 45 or 60 minutes or even 90 minutes. ... But I cannot do that because I need him because [Wayne] Rooney was injured [for Stoke]. ... I have to adapt to the needs of the selection.
"
Rushing Falcao back to fitness in this manner isn't ideal, especially given his recent long-term anterior cruciate ligament injury that saw him miss Colombia's World Cup campaign.
Nevertheless, just three starts and a further four substitute appearances is far from what was expected of Falcao when he joined the club.
This is a hugely disappointing return given the money that United have so far spent, and look to spend, on the striker.
Following the announcement of his temporary move at the very end of the summer transfer window, it was revealed that Falcao's wages while at Old Trafford would amount to "£265,000-a-week before tax," according to Ogden, again for The Telegraph.
Ogden wrote "the cost of signing Falcao, who had also been offered to Manchester City, Arsenal and Real Madrid, will inflict a significant dent in United’s bank account with the club also paying a £6 million loan fee to Monaco."
Overall, Falcao's loan stands to cost the club around £24 million, and this is before a mooted permanent summer transfer that would see United pay Monaco a further £43 million, according to The Independent.
Monaco already made a huge financial mistake in terms of Falcao's injuries, and United have seemingly followed suit.
Van Gaal, however, has bigger worries in the shape of the striker's form in the Premier League.
Diego Forlan
Falcao's disappointment so far at United is hugely reminiscent of that of his Atletico Madrid predecessor, Diego Forlan.
Forlan was 22 years old when he made the move from Independiente in 2002, with United paying £6.9 million for the striker, according to BBC Sport.
On his transfer, Forlan told reporters "the offer was bigger for the club, for Independiente, and for me. I was going to go to Middlesbrough, but Manchester offered more."
Both strikers represented a significant financial outlay by United, and their goalscoring records—so far in Falcao's case—fail to reflect this.
Forlan scored 17 in 95 games for the club, according to The Telegraph—an impressive rate compared to Falcao's one in seven.
Falcao's return of 52 goals in 68 games for Atletico, as well as Forlan's 96 in 196 for the same club between 2007/08 and 2010/11 (h/t UEFA.com), underline their credentials elsewhere.
Van Gaal's admission, prior to Monday's league fixture, that he "selected [Falcao] in spite of the fact he can only play 20 minutes at that level because the rhythm of the game in the Premier League is the highest," suggests that the striker may be struggling with the rigours of English football.
Falcao could well add to his goalscoring record at the club before January and will be hoping to do so from the substitutes' bench against Southampton.
However, at such a considerable cost, United must decide whether this is worthwhile, especially with the encouraging return to form of Van Persie and glimpses shown by youngster James Wilson.
Manchester United flashed their transfer muscles with the signing of Radamel Falcao in the summer, and it represented significant backing from the club's board for manager Louis van Gaal, but they now must consider whether to cut their losses on the regularly injured striker and move on.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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