Louis van Gaal urged to DITCH Radamel Falcao by former Manchester United hitman

LOUIS VAN GAAL has been told to send Radamel Falcao back to Monaco and spend the money on a striker who suits his system.

Radamel Falcao Player Profile

Manchester United will come face-to-face tomorrow with a forward who has hit the ground running in his first season in English football, when they play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Diego Costa cost the Blues £32million, a relative snip when you consider his 19 goals in 23 appearances have underpinned their route to what appears to be a fourth Premier League title.

United are third, eight points behind leaders Chelsea, who have one game in hand. They were expected to struggle even to break into the top four and secure a return to the Champions League.

So imagine the difference in their season had Falcao also settled quickly following his loan move from Monaco, which cost the club a fee of £6m, wages of £265,000 a week and an option to make the move permanent at £43.5m.

Former United striker Louis Saha said: “If Falcao was scoring 20 goals then United would have been up there, definitely. I don’t think the system is set up for him. It has to be for him. He is the kind of striker who needs the team to play a system for him. If he doesn’t find that system he will struggle.

“It’s a great club but United have big strength up front with Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Angel Di Maria and that system is very difficult to make it nice and simple for one player.

“But he also had an injury and the Premier League is a tough league. Maybe he tried to recover too quickly, so was trying to be as fit as possible. But starting in such a big club is not easy and so it was a really big ask for him.

“But I still back him up. He remains a great player and a great striker.”

Whether United think that in the summer remains to be seen, with reports rife that Falcao will return to Monaco come the end of the season as United cut their losses and go on to better things without him; a costly experiment they would rather just forget.

They were hoping to turn to Edinson Cavani this summer, but the Paris St Germain striker says he is happy in France.

The Uruguay international, who has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season,  said: “There is too much talk about my future but I will remain here. I will respect my contract and I’m only focusing on doing well for PSG.”

While that appointment looks doomed, Saha reckons United did get another one spot-on – that of manager Louis van Gaal.

“He is one of the best out there and definitely has the calibre to bring United back to the top,” said Saha at this week’s Laureus World Sports Awards in Shanghai. “I was thrilled to see the team getting back to a certain momentum.

Radamel FalcaoPA

Radamel Falcao has struggled at Man Utd

“There is still kind of an issue over the style of play, the speed, the attacking side of it, but they are starting to get the basics right – defending well, starting to score goals. It’s an immense achievement.

“The Champions League remains the most important thing for Manchester United but you have one or two years to understand because it is a transition period and it takes time for a manager to understand how it works. The Premier League is a different league, so [qualifying for] the Champions League is definitely a great achievement for Louis van Gaal.”

But much like his predecessor David Moyes, Van Gaal has not been able to escape criticism, only the sack. His style of football has been repeatedly called ‘functional’, which translates into ‘boring’.

But Saha said: “We will always find criticism because he is a manager who changes everything and tries to put his philosophy in, so sometimes it could be difficult to understand and take time.”

Perhaps only a season, however. The title may well be heading to Chelsea this term but few would bet against United getting it right in 2016.

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