Falcao Undeterred By Stoke's Strength

Away trips to Stoke City are constantly heralded as tough battles fought in undesirable, windy conditions.

As such, whenever names of foreign players appear on teamsheets ahead of their first experiences of the Britannia Stadium, questions are naturally raised about how those imports from other leagues will cope. Radamel Falcao can now be considered exempt from such concerns.

At times, the more diminutive, tricky players who prefer to focus on the technical aspect of the game can be overwhelmed by the sheer physicality of the likes of Ryan Shawcross, but one moment early into this New Year’s Day encounter showed Falcao was not to be deterred.

Chasing a one-goal deficit after the opener from Shawcross, Falcao was boxed in by the defender – accompanied by Glenn Whelan and Geoff Cameron. With his position compromised, Radamel announced himself in Staffordshire by skipping away from the trio with ease, before seeing an outside-of-the-boot pass towards Robin van Persie cut out.

The Colombian’s undoubted quality shining through, it was clear United’s no.9 was not going to shy away in fear during an awkward afternoon and was determined to make his mark.

Establishing oneself in an in-form, unbeaten side is no simple task but Falcao accomplished that with aplomb when scoring recently against Aston Villa and was at the forefront of the Reds’ attacking action again - that was evident when the striker, among several imposing defenders, stole a march on those around him to net the equaliser from Michael Carrick’s flick.

Of course, Stoke’s rearguard will have been anticipating a difficult examination when facing one of the world’s most feared forwards, but the manner in which the 28-year-old stretched the hosts before his second-half departure will have left no doubt in Louis van Gaal’s mind that his summer recruit can manage all manner of styles posed by rival clubs in the Barclays Premier League.

Another moment that will surely have stuck in the boss’ mind came when Falcao was withdrawn in the 64th minute alongside Luke Shaw. Other players with a lofty status similar to that of the former Atletico Madrid marksman may have trudged off the pitch in bewilderment as to why they were the one to make way, whereas Thursday’s goalscorer was different. Instead of merely tapping Ander Herrera’s hand, Falcao passionately gave the Spaniard and Adnan Januzaj words of encouragement ahead of the duo’s introduction.

The loan star’s influence on this United squad is becoming clearer by the week and, thankfully, he appears to have handled the hectic schedule and is looking a real threat.

The opinions expressed in this article are personal to the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Manchester United FC.

Credit: manutd.com