Chelsea’s problems with their strike force is well documented thanks largely to the underwhelming performances of summer arrival Samuel Eto’o, record signing Fernando Torres and the forgotten man Demba Ba, who have all failed to find the back of the net on a consistent basis.
As a result, Chelsea have been linked with a number of potential replacements- the likes of Diego Costa and Jackson Martinez have been mentioned, but the name that has really fuelled press reports is the possibility of a summer move for Monaco’s Colombian striker Radamel Falcao.
Manager Jose Mourinho has been far from discreet when asked about Falco in a conversation with French broadcaster Canal Plus:
“I don’t have Falcao but Falcao doesn’t have a team. Who wants to play in front of 3,000 supporters? If I was one day to go to Monaco it would be at the end [of my career].”
That begs the question of whether Mourinho is genuinely interested in signing the 28 year old or he is simply creating a smoke screen to mask his original transfer target. However, the thing that is on everyone’s mind is how will Falcao fit into this Chelsea team.
Mourinho’s playing philosophy has always been clear – his teams have always preferred a strong, physical striker as the focal point of the attack, someone who can carry the workload for the side, especially off the ball. During his first spell at Chelsea, he preferred to build the offensive unit around Didier Drogba instead of owner Roman Abramovich’s blue-eyed boy Andriy Shevchenko. Due to Mourinho’s tactics, Drogba flourished at Stamford Bridge while Shevchenko turned out to be a huge flop.
The trend continued in his next two spells as well. At Inter Milan, he preferred to use the more rounded Diego Milito as the central focal point in favor of Samuel Eto’o who he pushed into a wider role on the right. Even at Real Madrid, he favored the physical attributes and playmaking abilities of Karim Benzema over poaching instincts of Gonzalo Higuain.
The lack of such a striker in the current Chelsea setup has been the biggest problem for Mourinho and he intends to correct that problem in the summer. However, is Falcao really the man to solve this problem for Mourinho’s Chelsea? On the face of it, it would seem that the Colombian would be an excellent signing- after all, he has managed to score an incredible 153 goals in 197 appearances that he has made in European football since his move to Porto in the 2009-10 season.
However, if we dig a little deeper, the signing makes little sense even if we leave the financial implications aside. Falcao is a true poacher in every sense of the word, and probably the best in the world at the moment. However, despite his ability to score all sorts of goals, be it with his head or either foot, his involvement in buildup play is very limited, something which has always been a very important consideration for Mourinho while choosing his focal point.
Then again, Falcao is good at one thing; he is deadly in and around the penalty box and if chances are created for him, he’ll bury them 9 times out of 10. So, even though he is clearly not the typical Mourinho striker, if Chelsea do decide to go for him, it would signal a change in philosophy for Mourinho going into the second season of his second stint with the club.
It would mean that the focus would now be on the talents of the attacking midfielders to create chances for Falcao to convert. While it will require a change in approach from the players, they are more than capable of adapting to a change that will transform Chelsea into deadly finishers from their more tactical approach.
If that change does happen, then there is hardly a better striker on this planet to do the required job better than a certain Radamel Falcao who as per transfermarkt.com is worth €60m
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