Radamel Falcao has had an interesting start to life at Old Trafford, like Manchester United themselves; it’s been a rocky start to the season. However, before the international break, the deadline day signing broke his United duck to secure the win against Everton. Falcao also scored for Colombia in his first international match for eleven months. But the question still remains, as a Manchester United player, will the Colombian flop or flourish?
A favourite from the moment he arrived at Carrington, fans flocked to buy his shirt and his name is sung throughout every game. But for Falcao, it was always going to be tough to adjust to life at United; not only is it a new country, with a league unlike any other in its playing style, but he has also just returned from seven months out of competitive action, that saw him miss the World Cup. Rustiness was always going to be an issue and that was increased by the need to adapt his game to suit a highly intense league.
On the other hand, his performances have impressed regardless, averaging a 44% shot accuracy and an 85% passing accuracy (statistics from squawka.com). The largest concern upon Falcao’s arrival at Old Trafford was how he would fit in with the existing attacking squad, but one of the most promising aspects of his opening games in red is the interplay with Robin van Persie. The passing between the two has been seamless, their awareness and ability to make runs off of each other has been faultless; in addition to this, Falcao has also provided two assists for van Persie. Falcao also appears to have gelled well with the other new signings, in particular, Ángel di María.
Despite this, Falcao brings with him an indisputable scoring record wherever he has played, scoring 63 goals in 88 games since 2011/12 season (according to Sky Sports News). It is his scoring, in particular, that caused Manchester United to pay out the £20 million that this season-long loan will eventually equate to. Although he may have started slowly, it is reasonable to believe that now he’s got his first goal, many more will follow. It appeared that the longer it took him to score, the more difficult it would become, as each chance he missed piled on the pressure and increased the nerves. His relief and passion were clearly evident in his celebration.
To summarise, although he may have started off slowly, especially compared to some of the Premier League’s other new faces like Diego Costa and di María, in a way it was to be expected. Coming from a much slower league and returning from an extensive absence through injury was always going to make it harder. However, Falcao clearly has the ability to excel not only with his own scoring expertise, but his creativity for the team is a huge bonus. Finally, now the task of scoring his first goal has relieved some of the pressure from the Colombian’s shoulders, we may finally see the full prowess of El Tigre at Old Trafford.
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