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I learned a new three-letter acronym (TLA) the other day: OTT. Thanks Jose Mourinho! It means over the top. I think. If it doesn't, this opening might look even sillier than it does now. And yet, even then it wouldn't look as silly as some of what John Terry's saying about Falcao.
"Literally after two minutes, he was backing in. He did the same to Gary Cahill. The movement as well was excellent. For me, him and Harry Kane were the best players I came up against [last season]."
"We had a little tussle on the floor 10 to 15 minutes later. He was up for it, was hungry and his movement and first touch were excellent. You get that feel as well. You can tell after a couple of minutes ... it's: ‘I'll give a bit and he'll give a bit'. I just thought he was up for it that day and Gary felt the same. We are delighted to have him here because he's a top, top player."
-John Terry; source: Guardian
Literally! 120 seconds. That's all it took. Who needs extensive scouting networks? Not us! Who needs video evidence of the past two seasons? Not us! We've got 120 seconds of Falcao "backing in" and then having a "little tussle on the floor" with JT and the Gaz-man. It's a good thing we're a PG-13 blog, most of the time.
As Mourinho revealed not too long ago, we went after Falcao in large part thanks to the recommendation by Terry and Cahill. Clearly, those two are quite taken with the once dangerous striker. And, in fairness, Falcao hasn't looked completely useless in preseason so far. But that is just preseason, where things like Marko Marin playing like Eden Hazard and Eden Hazard playing like an overweight Marko Marin tend to happen. Or, if we want examples from this summer, Diego Costa being unable to buy a goal, or us conceding four goals to the Red Bulls' youth team tend to happen. Preseason is for the fake things. That's not to say there aren't any real things, but it's hard to tell what's fake and what's real until the season actually starts.
In any case, one thing's beyond any doubt, we're fully committed to building Falcao's confidence back up.