[Pogue Mahone]

This is true. Apparently "sources close to" is the widely accepted shorthand for using a quote that a player has asked to be off the record.

Still, this particular article is neither authoritative or insghtful. Stating the bleeding obvious too. He's not very happy about being dropped and playing (badly) for our reserves instead. Well gee, that's a surprise.

 

[Barca84]

As a journalist, people have far too healthy an obsession with quotes in articles.

A healthy obsession??

 

[JUPITER]

The mood of the article, though, is that Falcao won't be 'going gracefully' and could well 'do a Hargreaves' in terms of how he paints the club upon leaving...

Could be complete nonsense, but if this is correct, I wonder how that will sit with the 'whadda bloody thoroughly nice bloke' set who decided that Falcao was 'an amazing guy' upon his arrival...?

 

[Drifter]

I still think we let Hargreaves go too soon, surely if we offered him a new contract he'd contribute more?

The man was a crock . At the beginning of every year he had a recurring knee problem . If you meant contribute to the physio room, then yes.

 

[lifted]

A healthy obsession??

Unhealthy, sorry! Definitely not healthy...

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The mood of the article, though, is that Falcao won't be 'going gracefully' and could well 'do a Hargreaves' in terms of how he paints the club upon leaving...

Could be complete nonsense, but if this is correct, I wonder how that will sit with the 'whadda bloody thoroughly nice bloke' set who decided that Falcao was 'an amazing guy' upon his arrival...?

How about leaving the character assassination until, you know, it's actually deserved?

 

[Kevin]

How about leaving the character assassination until, you know, it's actually deserved?

You are an unbelievable poster at times. Wowzalinha, could not agree more.

 

[JUPITER]

Yeah exactly. Which is why I said, I feel sorry for him. Then I remember his salary, and how he's set up for life. If his outlook on life is anything like mine, 10-20 years down the road, I reckon he'll do well to look at his time at United and go, "Oh well, can't say I've tried. Certain things just conspired against me during my time there."

Yeah that sounds fair. Empathetic but balanced, rather than the overly emotional nonsense some are posting as if his actual career is over or something - it isn't. He's going to continue as a professional footballer playing at a high level.

I do feel for him, and as I've said continuously throughout the thread, I truly hope he gets a good couple of years somewhere else - Italy or the MLS would both be a great shout for him.

I'll certainly be glad to have him off our wage bill though, he's contributed absolutely nothing and been paid super-star wages to do so.

Hopefully his next move is thought through a little more carefully and realistically by himself and Mendes, because he really needs to end up somewhere where he can contribute with the attributes at his disposal.

A slower, less frenetic league where he gets that split second longer on the ball is what he needs.

Good luck to him.

 

[saivet]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[ItsEssexRob]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

By solution does he mean excuse?

 

[Pexbo]

By solution does he mean excuse?

He's being diplomatic. He's a good guy who needs to find a club next year and he clearly finds the pace and power of the league difficult, especially with his decline.

There would be no need to hang him out to dry by saying he's finished as a player.

 

[Roman Bellic]

By solution does he mean excuse?

He isn't going to throw him under the bus now is he?

 

[Dion]

The man was a crock . At the beginning of every year he had a recurring knee problem . If you meant contribute to the physio room, then yes.

Errrrrrr

 

[RedMachine03]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[matherto]

You can tell that LVG hasn't said a word to the people that wrote those programme notes.

 

[Eric'sCollar]

I still feel he is going to have a big moment for us. Something that fans will remember, feel like it will be a winner against City or Liverpool and it could be vital moment.

 

[sunama]

I believe his big moment was against Sunderland (that touch).
I must admit, when he did that, I stood up in excitement as that was the first time I saw him do something that perhaps only one of the World's best striker can do. In that moment, he was unplayable.
The problem is that the next time he took to the pitch (in the U21 game), he was bad and was subbed off. So, that touch, didnt mark the beginning of anything special.

Unfortunately for Falcao, the more he plays, the more he proves that he is past it, which will affect his chances of moving to a decent club. So, for his own sake, it might be best not to play him.

 

[Roman Bellic]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

Oh dear, i fear this lad might not tweet again

 

[Devil may care]

Had energy when he came on, can't really say much more as he didn't get a chance to do a lot.

 

[Rado_N]

Signing him on a permanent deal for the money talked about would be more stupid than waiting for Fellaini's buyout clause to expire and paying more.

 

[pseudo_canadian]

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-03-20/...one-over-man-utd-career-former-agent-reveals/

I know he hasn't produced much this season for us, but you have to feel for the guy.

But it's pretty harsh from this former agent for telling this to the press. Feel like this sort of thing should be kept private.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

It would be fantastic if he came off the bench on Sunday to score a 90th minute winner. The confidence will sky rocket I'm sure.

 

[SirAF]

Signing him on a permanent deal for the money talked about would be more stupid than waiting for Fellaini's buyout clause to expire and paying more.

Definitely, it's not happening.

 

[Empire]

He says he doesn't know how to deal with the situation but it's pretty simple, play excellent in the second team, train to the best of your ability. This is a chance for him to get even better, direct that emotion to excellent training, unleash that hunger for goals.

If he performs for the second team he might get another chance but even then, if we are chasing a goal there is a good chance he will be subbed on especially if we are creating chances and also I would back him to get on the end of one of those.

He has had a horrible injury but his career is far from over, he does need to work hard to find that form but there is no reason a player of his ability can't be a star again. Even if he has lost a yard of pace, he seems to be an intelligent man, he just needs to adapt his game. In the box he is lethal, capable of scoring so many different types of goals, in an attacking team that has players to create a lot of chances he will probably be fine.

He has been in a side this season not creating chances but even moreso he has been asked to play as a creative striker, Louis van Gaal has said he likes strikers to also create chances and has referred to Falcao as one of his creative players but it's not really his game.

To put into context how good this guy was, he scored for Atletico in 2012 - 13 in La Liga 6 less goals than Ronaldo in the same amount of games but that season Atletico scored only 65 goals, Real Madrid scored 103, had Falcao been in a side creating chances like Real Madrid he would have got a lot more goals. He can still bounce back, I'm not sure what team will take him next season but I am sure he'll do well wherever he ends up.

 

[The Law of Denis]

Radamel Falcao driven to tears by Manchester United woes, claims friend

Radamel Falcao was so distraught at playing for Manchester United reserves that he reportedly called a friend on the way to the game to confess: “I don’t know how to deal with this situation.” The striker is also said to have cried many times over his current predicament.

http://www.theguardian.com/football...falcao-tears-manchester-united-louis-van-gaal

 

[Pexbo]

They angle it as if it's United's fault he's completely past it. I'd have sympathy if he didn't look like the worst player on the pitch during that reserve game. As it is it suggests he's either shite now or not prepared to prove his sharpness at reserve level. Either way it's not United's fault. It's a competitive industry and there's no room for passengers, even if they are costing you a fortune.

We don't owe him anything at the end of the day. He's failing an audition that is earning him and costing United about £10m.

 

[sunama]

So if he cried before the game, imagine what he mustve been like after he got subbed off for being a liability? He mustve hit rock bottom.
He desperately needs to play in an easier league, to rebuild his confidence.
He just isnt good enough to play in the EPL. Ive said this many times, but playing with him in the team is like playing with 10 men.

 

[Everest Red]

They angle it as if it's United's fault he's completely past it. I'd have sympathy if he didn't look like the worst player on the pitch during that reserve game. As it is it suggests he's either shite now or not prepared to prove his sharpness at reserve level. Either way it's not United's fault. It's a competitive industry and there's no room for passengers, specially if they are costing you a fortune.

We don't owe him anything at the end of the day. He's failing an audition that is earning him and costing United about £10m.

Agreed. I was so glad when we got him. Shame it became such an disappointing episode. If he performed like he did for A.Madrid and Porto we'd be in a much healthier shape.

 

[The Law of Denis]

They angle it as if it's United's fault he's completely past it. I'd have sympathy if he didn't look like the worst player on the pitch during that reserve game. As it is it suggests he's either shite now or not prepared to prove his sharpness at reserve level. Either way it's not United's fault. It's a competitive industry and there's no room for passengers, even if they are costing you a fortune.

We don't owe him anything at the end of the day. He's failing an audition that is earning him and costing United about £10m.

The story is so obviously planted its ridiculous. Compare his attitude to Fellaini/Young/De Gea, all of whom were absolutely slaughtered by the press and fans but we never heard news stories about them crying.

 

[mariachi-19]

It's time like this right now why I miss fergie. He'd know exactly what to do and say to him to get him to pull his head in and get on with it. To me falcao on that evidence does not have the mentality to be a Manchester United player. You don't like it, get fecking stuck in and prove you're better than you are showing.

 

[Drifter]

Agent is only worried about Brand Falcao and how his he going to move him on after a not so successful spell at Umited.

 

[kps88]

Agent is only worried about Brand Falcao and how his he going to move him on after a not so successful spell at Umited.

That's not his agent talking.

 

[Drifter]

That's not his agent talking.

Ok. Never read the article.But having read it i don't have any sympathy for him.

 

[Borys]

Putting him into reserves seems odd to me. I can understand it as a method to motivate/punish player if he's not doing enough, but Falcao has always been very committed. He just isn't good enough anymore, I think it's quite simple. Don't know how playing for the reserves can help him, and it's not like we don't have strikers there so it's weird.

 

[khoazany]

Putting him into reserves seems odd to me. I can understand it as a method to motivate/punish player if he's not doing enough, but Falcao has always been very committed. He just isn't good enough anymore, I think it's quite simple. Don't know how playing for the reserves can help him, and it's not like we don't have strikers there so it's weird.

He only played 1 game.That was for him to regain match fit with him not playing in the past few weeks.

 

[Borys]

He only played 1 game.That was for him to regain match fit with him not playing in the past few weeks.

Don't think one game for the reserves in a few weeks time makes much of a difference for his fitness.

 

[golden_blunder]

Don't think one game for the reserves in a few weeks time makes much of a difference for his fitness.

It's better than nothing

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

I do have sympathy for him. His slump is not through not trying. He's clearly giving everything when he plays. He works hard, often gets into the right positions but he just looks shot to pieces in both confidence and sharpness. I'm sure a lot of players have become very upset over spells of poor form and being slaughtered by the media. Falcao wont be the first. I'm sure De Gea and Fellaini (amongst others) found it hard as well.

It's just a shame it didn't work out for him here, but I don't really think it's Falcao's fault that his friend has sold this story to the tabloids.

 

[Borys]

It's better than nothing

Maybe you're right but it does more harm for his confidence than good for his fitness IMO.

 

[sunama]

He was probably played in the U21 game for 3 reasons:
1. to give him some match fitness (physical and mental)
2. to give him confidence - if he is scores 2-3 goals in the reserves, then he will feel better about himself. Confidence is so important for strikers (Unless your name is Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who always brims with confidence).
3. if he performs well, he gives LVG cause to consider him for starting in the first team

The problem was that he was so bad in that reserve game, he got subbed off and this dented his confidence.
But, for us, this is good for 2 reasons:
1. we know that he isnt good enough, even to play with youth players
2. LVG now knows for certain that this guy is not effective in the EPL

I've said this for a while now and that is that Falcao is now destroying his own career by staying in the EPL. Its like watching a car crash in slow motion.
With every game he plays, he demonstrates how bad he is, which puts off potential employers.
He needs to go to a lesser league, disappear off the radar for a year or so and use this time to regain his form, away from the lime-light. If by this time he can regain his form (he will be 30 years old), he can ask for his final transfer to a big club.