Louis van Gaal was clearly happy with his side's showing at Stamford Bridge on Saturday evening, despite Manchester United falling to a 1-0 defeat against champions elect Chelsea.
The Dutchman described the Red Devils' performance as the best under his watch so far, due to the creativity and dominance on show in West London.
One man in particular in a red shirt produced a somewhat underwhelming display, though, with surprise inclusion Radamel Falcao doing little to tempt club chiefs into making his loan spell at Old Trafford into a permanent deal in the summer.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the Colombian's 90 minutes on the field to see exactly how he faired against the best that the Premier League has to offer.
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It has been widely reported that Van Gaal will decline the chance to land the AS Monaco loanee this summer, due to a lack of impact during his time in England. His work rate has certainly never been called into question, but his end product was lacking once more yesterday evening.
Three shots, all of which were off target, was all that 29-year-old had to show at the end of his less-than-encouraging appearance against Chelsea. This coming despite the fact that he was selected in his favoured central striking role, meaning that Wayne Rooney had to be utilised in a central-midfield berth that he has become all-too familiar this term.
John Terry admitted after the game that he was delighted to see his former England teammate being sacrificed in that manner, which he claimed made the job all that more easier for the Blues' defence. Falcao was often forced into wide areas to bring others into the game, picking out a colleague on just six occasions in the attacking third, five of which came out on the left-hand side.
In terms of receiving possession, the former Atletico Madrid star often found himself in promising positions between the Chelsea lines, albeit without testing Thibaut Courtois on a single occasion. Perhaps more tellingly, on a day when United dominated possession with 71% of the ball overall, Falcao was not involved in any of the top-16 passing combinations.
Lack of playing time
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Falcao was also caught in possession on the halfway line in the build-up to the game's only goal, although he can rightly feel aggrieved not to have been awarded a free kick.
Can El Tigre really be blamed for his lack of rhythm, though? His start against Chelsea this weekend was his first at club level since a 2-0 win over Sunderland in February. Since then, he has been an unused substitute in back-to-back games, while playing a combined 49 minutes in the next three league outings.
Having highlighted while on international duty with Colombia last month that he can score goals in the right surroundings, Falcao was again overlooked upon his return to club action. It is no doubt a frustrating time for a player who has previously found scoring goals second nature wherever he has played, and it is almost certain that Van Gaal will look elsewhere in terms of a new No.9 option at the end of the season.
Yet that has not stopped fellow Premier League side Liverpool being linked with the powerful forward, which could provide an escape route that benefits both parties. Falcao is fast running out of time to make an impression in English football, but he still has five games remaining to put things right, and show just why he was widely considered to be the best out-and-out striker in world football prior to his high-profile injury last year.
Daniel Lewis
