Player Focus: In-form Falque Finding His Feet in Genoa But Might Not Stay for Long

There are some magnificent under the radar stories still dying to be told in Serie A this season. Look at Chievo, for instance. Not only have the Flying Donkeys survived comfortably, but goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri and his backline of Nicolas Frey, Dario Dainelli, Bostjan Cesar and the highly regarded Ervin Zukanovic have the fourth best defence in the league.

Cesena may have been relegated but they too have been worth following for a couple of reasons. Many laughed when Domenico Di Carlo told La Gazzetta dello Sport that Gregoire Defrel is a mix of Arjen Robben and Juan Cuadrado. But maybe he was understating things...

A real handful in his side’s surprise 2-all draw with champions Juventus at the Manuzzi in February, Defrel has repeatedly lifted his game against the big clubs this season, inking his name on the scoresheet against Lazio and Inter, and scoring a brace in Monday night’s encounter with Napoli. Veteran teammate Franco Brienza has also rolled back the years. Eight goals in 2015 for a No.10 entering his late 30s are numbers Francesco Totti would be proud of.

And here’s another eyebrow raiser. If I were to ask you which Spanish player is enjoying the best individual campaign in Italy, whose name would you put forward in response? Borja Valero, the Fiorentina playmaker who bust the myth that Spanish players can’t make it in Italy - at least not since the retirement of the original Ballon d’Or winning Luis Suarez - has had a good but not great season. Alvaro Morata instantly springs to mind. He has impressed in his first year in Serie A and has overtaken Fernando Llorente in this regard and the Juventus pecking order.

But would it surprise you to learn that another compatriot has out-scored him [8] and Jose Callejon [11] on the peninsula this season? Iago Falque has 13 and he isn’t even a centre-forward. Only Luca Toni has found the net more this calendar year [14]. If the season started in April, he would be Serie A’s top scorer, with 7. Only seven other players in Europe’s top five leagues have been more prolific than Falque in that time.

The son of a senator and spokeswoman for Spain’s Socialist party, it’s worth remembering that the 25-year-old was also once on Juventus’ books. They plucked him from Barcelona’s La Masia, the world’s elite finishing school, back in 2008. “I played a couple of youth tournaments with Real Madrid when I was 10,” Falque reflected in Tuttosport. “It was a trial. Barça got to know about it and tried to sign me. I chose them for the academy. They know how to develop young players. I spent eight fundamental years there. I went to school with Messi and Busquets. There was Bojan and Jonathan De Santos. I swapped shirts with Leo the last time we met. He was very sweet.”

Given the hype around La Masia at the time - how even before then Arsenal had lured a player as talented as Cesc Fabregas from their ranks and Samp would later find Mauro Icardi - there was a certain hope and expectation around Falque. “Juventus came to see me at an Under-19 tournament in Spain. I was voted the best player. They picked me up for nothing. It was a great experience. I got to grow up among great players like Alessandro Del Piero. When you are young, you never think you will get to train with a player like that. I always got on with Seba Giovinco too. We won the Viareggio trophy twice in the youth team. It didn’t quite happen for me - Falque never made a senior appearance - but it was still important for me. And besides, Juventus never said they were signing me for the first team.”

Of course that didn’t stop the perception that they had done and as such harsh conclusions were drawn. Judgements were rushed to. The popular belief was that Falque had flopped. He was loaned out to Bari but never played, not even under Giampiero Ventura. What he lacked was a coach who believed in him.

Falque found one in Javi Gracia, now the coach of Malaga and mastermind of Barcelona’s last defeat in La Liga. Brought under his wing at Villarreal B during another ‘work experience’ placement five years ago, he finally found continuity. Falque scored 11 goals in 36 games and caught the eye of Tottenham, who were so impressed they bought him from Juventus. Alas another big move didn’t work out.

“They spent money on me,” Falque recalled. “Honestly I thought I’d get more opportunities but it’s tough to find space when you have Gareth Bale and Rafael van der Vaart in front of you. I had difficulty with the language and played very little in 18 months.” Falque got passed over and passed around. A single appearance is all he mustered in the Championship at Southampton. Reunited with Gracia at Almeria, he got regular game time under him in La Liga and spent all of last season at Rayo Vallecano where he attracted Genoa’s attention.

Rediscovering the golden touch that had deserted them in the transfer market in recent years, they did some smart business in the summer. In addition to Falque, for whom they paid Spurs €2m, they got another bargain in Diego Perotti from Sevilla for €350k. Both would play significant roles in Genoa’s best season since 2009 when they narrowly missed out on the Champions League.

Still, the reaction to Falque’s signing was one of scepticism. Hadn’t he failed in Italy before, they said? “I knew there were questions about me, a label to shake off, as if things didn’t go well at Juventus it wasn’t like that. But I believed in myself. I had done well at Rayo even if some people started to think that I couldn’t play anything other than Spanish football.”

Falque had to be patient. He was in and out the team and didn’t start and finish a game until the beginning of November. That’s when things really began to change for him. “I got a little confidence boost in Udine,” he explained. “I scored my first goal in Italy and got my first assist too [in a 4-2 win].” A regular ever since, another turning point in his career arrived in January when Genoa sold Mauricio Pinilla to Atalanta and lost top scorer Alessandro Matri to Juventus. Gasperini had to reconfigure the team’s forward line. He joked about a new “Japanese attack” with short players that were quick and technical like Lestienne, Fetfatzidis and Falque.

The best combination, however, was another. When fit and available Perotti, M’baye Niang and Falque have caused opponents all kinds of problems. A lengthy suspension for the Argentine and an injury to the Frenchman have meant Genoa’s hopes of a return to Europe - which appear in vain given the club’s inability to get its house in order and obtain a UEFA license - rested on Falque for the final stretch of the season. He has raised his game accordingly. “My teammates compare me to Messi in training,” he said before insisting that they stop.

Falque has become a fans’ favourite at Marassi. A couple of assists in a 5-2 win against Verona in February hinted at a player on the up. A goal in the Derby della Lanterna against rivals Samp swiftly followed. He has now found the back of the net in seven of his last eight games, the last two of which have been 4-1 and 5-1 blow-out victories against Atalanta and Torino.

Asked to reveal what Genoa’s secret has been this season, Falque said: “Gasperini’s approach to the game. He always wants to win. Even when we’re 1-0 up he asks us to go and get a second, rather than defend our lead. Let’s say that he has a Spanish or European mentality. The fans like the show we put on. Us players enjoy ourselves on the pitch and I score.” 

Devastating when cutting in from the right, only Paulo Dybala and Manolo Gabbiadini [13] have scored more than Falque has with his left foot. Of the 14 players to hit 10 or more goals in Serie A this season only World Cup legend Miroslav Klose has a better conversion rate [22.8%]. Falque also ranks just outside the top 10 for crosses attempted [136] and 15th for big chances created [7].

Is it any wonder Inter are monitoring him closely? “It’s great to be linked with a big club,” he said. “But I am 100% focused on Genoa.” One of the best sleeper signings this season, as players of fantasy football in Italy have discovered, Falque, like Defrel at Cesena, represents great value. Finally realising his potential, he won’t be short of suitors this summer.

Should Falque lay roots in Genoa or make another move after a successful 2014/15 campaign? Let us know in the comments below