Louis van Gaal explains why Radamel Falcao can play only for 20 minutes

Louis van Gaal has said that Falcao will only play as a substitute till he is fit enough

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has said that Colombian forward Radamel Falcao is fit enough to play only for 20 minutes. The 28-year-old wasn’t part of the starting eleven for his side’s last two home fixtures and was brought on as a substitute on both occasions. That was his first appearance for the Red Devils in more than two months. He was brought on loan earlier this year for the season for a fee of £6 million.

He is, however, yet to showcase his prolific goal-scoring ability at his new club, having scored just once in the seven games that he has played for United so far. Falcao returned to training in late November after having recovered from his calf injury.

Falcao needs match fitness: Van Gaal

James Wilson was picked ahead of Falcao in the game against Stoke last Tuesday, when Wayne Rooney was injured.The 63-year-old said that Falcao was played as a substitute as he was short on match fitness.

“It's match fitness [he needs]. It would be a better contribution if he played with the second team but I cannot do that because on Tuesday we had the match against Stoke and Wayne Rooney was injured”, the former Netherlands manager said.

He also said, “Yes, match fitness. He has trained now maybe two days after the match [with Hull]. So we had the match against Stoke on Tuesday when he played for 15 minutes. Then we had the training sessions after Tuesday. And before Tuesday I didn’t train – I trained the box exercise. You know the box exercise? Yeah? It is not a training session.

"I have selected him in spite of the fact he can only play for 20 minutes," Van Gaal said.

When asked whether Falcao would have any issues at being played as a substitute, Van Gaal said that that’s not his problem and that he has to follow what the manager asks him to do.

"I am not interested in that. He has to follow my philosophy," he said.