Falcao And The King

ManUtd.com's Adam Marshall discusses his chats with two gifted Manchester United centre-forwards, one from the past and the other from the present...

I had the good fortune to interview two world-class strikers this week, Denis Law and Radamel Falcao, both famed for their predatory instincts in the penalty box.

Manchester United legends do not come much bigger than Law, the King of the Stretford End, who has two statues in and around Old Trafford. Speak to anybody from his era and they revel at his remarkable ability and endearing characteristics.

As someone who was never fortunate to see him play live, only videos provide evidence of his talents to accompany the testaments from older fans. Watching Law in action is sometimes like witnessing a modern-day footballer transported into the black-and-white footage, displaying movement, electricity and elasticity in startling measures against relatively leaden-footed defenders.

Hence, my continued surprise that he only operated as a striker under the instruction of Sir Matt Busby when United were short in attack. I think of Law as the archetypal centre-forward (237 goals in 404 matches suggests as much) but he craved constant involvement in a play-making role so he could dominate games. “I wanted to be [Alfredo] Di Stefano,” he told me.

Falcao seems a different animal – ‘El Tigre’ arrived at United with a reputation for scoring goals from all angles and enjoying the art of finishing. We have seen glimpses of his obvious talent, the visionary cross for Robin van Persie’s header at Leicester, the instinctive shot against the bar in the same game and, of course, his alert finish against Everton.

The fans clearly already adore the Colombian and anticipate more goals on his return to the side. They are, after all, his currency. A calf problem has hampered his attempt to settle into Louis van Gaal’s team but he's raring to go again and show why he is rightly regarded as one of the top strikers in the world.

There is an aura surrounding the South American, a bone fida superstar who cuts an impressive figure and looks like the sort of guy who is constantly greeted by flashbulbs to capture his every move. Yet he is charming and good natured, always breaking into a smile and keen to acknowledge those around him.

An engaging personality, he is becoming more accustomed to his new surroundings, and speaks a decent level of English already. Not only could he understand the questions but his initial response on a couple of occasions was to reply in our language without thinking, before elaborating in Spanish to provide the depth that our upcoming Inside United magazine interview required.

Falcao leaned forward to emphasise his key points and his determination to succeed in Manchester, the disappointment he feels at sustaining the recent calf problem, and his desire to produce a flurry of goals, his stock-in-trade.

He appreciates he must do his talking on the pitch as he fulfills a long-held ambition to play in the Premier League. Although he missed Saturday's victory at Arsenal, he returned to full training on Sunday and his time to shine will surely come soon enough. There is little doubt, with his pedigree and assured nature, that our faith in Falcao will be fully vindicated.

Credit: manutd.com