According to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, Colombian striker Radamel Falcao will not be at Old Trafford next season after yet another disappointing performance against West Ham at Upton Park on Sunday in which the Red Devils managed to scrape a late equalizer through Daley Blind that saw the match finish 1-1.
With West Ham being without Winston Reid and James Collins in their defence Carragher thought that the United attack should have given the Hammers more problems than they did, and puts it down to a lack of imagination from United front men.
“I think Louis van Gaal has got a problem with his strike force,” Carragher told Super Sunday.
“I don’t see Falcao staying at the end of the season and it’s something Manchester United will have to address in the striking department.
“Van Persie and Falcao were just jogging up field, ambling up and they didn’t cause a make-shift West Ham back four enough problems. United have got big problems at that end of the pitch. There is not enough movement from the front two, there’s no sprint, spark or energy.”
“West Ham showed pace and energy through Sakho and Valencia in the first half to get in behind the United defence. But Falcao and Van Persie failed to exploit the same spaces.
“They were just jogging up field, especially Van Persie, ambling up and they didn’t cause a make-shift West Ham back four enough problems.
“When United were in the wide areas, Falcao was ball-watching and that made him easy to mark. He should have been running down the channels. There is not enough movement from the front two, there’s no sprint, spark or energy and that was in complete contrast to West Ham.”
With time running out Dutch manager Louis van Gaal brought Marouane Fellaini into the game hoping the big Belgium would cause the Hammers problems in the air, which he did contributing to Daley Blinds goal, but Carragher thinks United would have been better suited pushing Wayne Rooney and James Wilson further forward.
“United have got big problems at that end of the pitch,” Carragher added. “Everybody talks about United needing a centre back and that defensively they’re all over the place, but they’ve got one of the best defensive records in the league.
“Granted, a lot of that is down to the goalkeeper, but the problems are at the other end of the pitch and there’s no way I see Falcao staying.
“The position of Rooney is not right. He only touched the ball in the opposition’s box once or twice and he’s playing like a defensive midfield player.
“You wonder why Van Gaal doesn’t put Rooney up front in those positions to create and score goals because the two strikers, with their lack of movement, had less touches than De Gea and that tells the whole story.”
