Flop Falcao back to his lethal best
BY the end of his twoyear spell in the Premier League, Radamel Falcao had been reduced to something approaching a glorified goalkeeping coach.
‘I was grateful because he insisted on doing drills with match intensity even though he knew he would not play,’ Christophe Lollichon, the former Chelsea goalkeeping coach, told Le Journal Du Dimanche. ‘he helped the goalkeepers progress.’
By last summer, many saw Falcao as a relic of elite football. he played only 228 Premier League minutes for Chelsea — 12 appearances, mostly as a substitute, in all competitions. Chelsea lost eight of those.
So next stop China, perhaps? MLS, if the money was right.
Regardless, he could never again be the player who scored 52 goals in 68 games for Atletico Madrid, the striker Diego Simeone described as the best finisher he had seen since hugo Sanchez at Real Madrid.
Yet here is Falcao, in a startling renaissance, the focal point of europe’s most potent attack. Now 31, Falcao has already played layed 1,286 minutes this seasonon in Ligue 1, 10 more than n in his Premier League campaign at Manchester United. he has 16 league goals, averaging one every 81 minutes.
In Ligue 1, Leonardo Jardim’s team have e scored 76 goals in 26 games. Paris Saint- Ger-Germain have managed 500 andand, after 25 games in the Premier League, no side have more than 54.
Monaco have beaten tottenham twice this season and take on Manchester City this evening confident of a third win on english soil in two years after beating Arsenal in 2015.
Monaco are a young and athletic side. tiemoue Bakayoko is a powerful central midfielder, pursued by Manchester United and Chelsea. Bernardo Silva is a magician orchestrating attacks. Striker Kylian Mbappe, 18, will move on soon but the fee will top the £ 58million (including add-ons) United paid for Anthony Martial.
Monaco took three weeks last summer to deliberate over Jardim’s future after finishing 31 points behind PSG in third place. Monaco’s faith paid off to the extent Jardim will be considered in the frame should Arsene Wenger leave Arsenal. Monaco, three points clear of PSG, are on course for a first title since 2000. In JJardim’s team, Falcao is key and, crucially, healthy afafter the trauma of tthe cruciate- ligament iinjury he suffered in JJanuary 2014. After missing the World Cup in Brazil, Falcao’s ccareer is still recovering bubut last summer he had his most complete pre-seasonson in years, scoring five goals in six games. Last January Monaco decided to bring him home. Falcao, for his part, has turned down moves to China on three occasions. It is a contrast to life at United under Louis van Gaal. In a 1-0 home defeat by Southampton, Falcao did not make the squad on a day that tyler Blackett, Paddy McNair and James Wilson did. For those at Van Gaal’s press conference after Falcao’s first training session, it was a stunning decline. ‘he had one ball and it was in the goal,’ the Dutchman grinned. ‘One of the best strikers in the world.’ the week before United signed Falcao on loan, City had turned him down. At the etihad tonight, El Tigre (the tiger) can earn his stripes at last in Manchester.