I bet I wasn’t the only one who was gobsmacked on deadline day, I honestly thought I was still dreaming when I woke up. Falcao to United, don’t be silly but then Twitter started to explode that it actually was happening. My immediate thought wasn’t about how we would fit the Columbian in or about him not being a midfielder or defender it was just that it was Falcao!!!
A goal scoring machine and until his move to Monaco last summer he was regarded as the best striker in the world. It looked like he was destined to move to Madrid at some point in his career but to think the club would get him this summer is fantastic for United fans round the globe. For fans that didn’t really know who Falcao was he certainly made himself known when pretty much single handily destroyed Chelsea in the Super Cup by scoring a brilliant hat rick two years ago.
The reality is that with the signings of Di Maria and now Falcao United still didn’t sign that dominant central midfielder or world class defender. With this in mind it looks Van Gaal may be waiting for his pal from Holland Kevin Strootman, who he rates very highly and you wouldn’t put it past United to make a large bid in January. So it looks like it will be score more than the other team this season, which ties in well with the famous United chant of Attack, Attack, Attack!
Goals is something that is nearly guaranteed with Falcao, he scores them for fun and has done throughout his career. To get the best out of his though United will need to give him the right service, something which has lacked in United’s first three games this season. But with most of the signings back fit for the visit of QPR the likes of Di Maria and Herrera will be looking for their new team mate in and around the box. Falaco is definitely of the same breed as Van Nistelroy and prefers to do most of his damage in the box as you won’t really find a better poacher in world football. He has that ability to just be in the right place at the right time and scores bags of goals with his brilliant positioning and movement.
Though he does have enough pace to get in behind defences and can stretch teams as he has a great work rate on the pitch. Standing at only 5ft9 you would think he would struggle up front on his own, but this isn’t the case, very strong for his size and posses a brilliant leap that allows him to compete with taller defenders in the air. Right footed but is very capable with his left and showed this with all three goals in his hatrick against Chelsea which I mentioned earlier with his left foot.
In terms of where he will play it will obviously play up front but all depends on Van Gaal and how he wants to set up his team. Does he continue with a formation with two up top, in this case then Falcao will very likely be playing up top with Van Persie. Or if Van Gaal goes back to his favoured 4-3-3 then it could see Falcao up top on his own and either RVP, Rooney or Mata will miss out. It’s a nice but at the same time difficult decision for Van Gaal as he has fantastic attacking options but for the benefit of the team someone is going to have to miss out.
If you’re not excited by Falcao at United then you should be, QPR at home is in just over a week’s time and it’s going to be quite an occasion at Old Trafford with new signings galore on show and hope fully United’s first win of the season. The key for United is to get Falcao the service, if he gets it then expect plenty of goals and wins for United as Falcao really is that good.
