Chris Smalling believes defenders' rough treatment of Radamel Falcao has accounted for the Colombian's failure at Manchester United.
The striker has only scored four goals in 29 games during a season on loan at Old Trafford and while United are yet to confirm they will not take up their option to buy him for £43 million (Dh244.7m), it would rank as a major surprise if they were to re-sign him.
Falcao had scored 155 goals in 200 club games for FC Porto, Atletico Madrid and AS Monaco before arriving in England.
“I think with his record, he’s a marked man,” United centre-back Smalling said. “He does get kicked a lot in every game and it’s because of what he’s done in the game. His training performances have been terrific and on Sunday he was running in behind as the manager wanted. On another day he could have scored a few more goals.”
Falcao has failed to score in his last 13 appearances for United and has never recaptured the form he displayed before suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury playing for Monaco in January 2014.
But Smalling believes the 29-year-old can return to his best, adding: “I think when the manager has given him a chance and he’s trained well and he’s stayed fit, you can see he is getting sharper and sharper and with a good pre-season he’ll be firing again next season.”
Falcao has had a stop-start season at Old Trafford and Smalling feels that has hindered him, explaining: “He’s had a couple of injuries on the way, and with every player that means you don’t get the consistency of being able to train every week. It affects your flow, especially with strikers who need a run of goals to set them off.”
While Falcao’s career has declined, Smalling has experienced an upturn in his fortunes of late, cementing his place in the team, earning a new four-year contract and being awarded the United captaincy for Sunday’s draw with Arsenal.
“It was a big honour,” said the 25-year-old. “It was a proud moment for me.”
He was granted the armband with Wayne Rooney and Michael Carrick injured and an ill Robin van Persie only on the bench, but it was a sign of a new-found seniority after Ryan Giggs retired and Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Darren Fletcher all left.
“This season, some of us have had to step forward, especially with some of the older players leaving so it’s nice that it’s being recognised,” Smalling added. “I think (my game) has progressed well in that we’ve done a lot of work on the field and have been given a lot of responsibility going forward as a unit.”
United have cemented a top-four finish but Smalling admits that should not be satisfactory for them. “It’s not. It’s not a season where we’re massively celebrating. It’s a step. Next season we know that won’t be good enough.”
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