Radamel Falcao was once the most feared striker in the world. Then he blew out his knee. Since then, Colombia got to a World Cup quarterfinal without him and he's spent a season looking like a shell of himself for Manchester United, scoring four goals in 29 games.
Colombia shouldn’t accommodate Radamel Falcao anymore
Venezuela pulled off an opening game upset over Colombia, who need to stop living in the past.
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Jose Peckerman started him on Sunday anyway. He was poor, like he has been for most of the last year, and Colombia looked static with him up top. They could have played the same way with Jackson Martinez instead, or with an additional winger or playmaker, and probably would have looked much more effective. Instead, they had to play hampered by an average player who starts on reputation alone.
Rupert Fryer pointed out exactly why Falcao doesn’t fit at halftime, and it didn’t get any better from there.
Jokes aside, Falcao is still a top player. Injury was a great shame, he was incredible, but truth is #Col only found blend once he was gone.
— Rupert Fryer (@Rupert_Fryer) June 14, 2015 Pekerman once had a problem. He decided Falcao couldn't play as lone striker. Playing him meant playing two, which left them lacking in 1/2
— Rupert Fryer (@Rupert_Fryer) June 14, 2015 ..in mid. Then he lost Falcao & was presented a solution: James was unshackled & stared. Now Falcao back, front 2 back, old prob returns 2/2
— Rupert Fryer (@Rupert_Fryer) June 14, 2015 And as Colombia subbed off anyone but Falcao, things got worse. They never found the right balance going forward.
Colombia's 1-0 loss can't all be pinned on Falcao, though. Their midfield and fullbacks weren't quite good enough to keep the Venezuelan attack at bay, and the winners deserve some credit for this fantastic team goal.
But Colombia didn’t even manage a shot on target in the first half, and hardly mustered a response after Venezuela went ahead. Falcao wasn’t the entire reason for that, but he was a net negative. Had he been subbed off at halftime, or after Venezuela scored, things might have been different for Los Cafeteros.
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