radamel falcao's miserable career at manchester united reached a new low on tuesday night when he was dumped in the reserves by manager louis van gaal falcao has not played a minute of football for united's first team since being dragged off midway through the home victory over sunderland last month and was left on the bench as van gaal's stuttering team were knocked out of the fa cup by arsenal at home on monday night now the £250,000 a week loan signing from monaco has suffered the indignity of being made to play in the under 21 team in their game against tottenham on tuesday night radamel falcao losing his footing as he tries to escape the attentions of bongani khumalo (left) falcao reacts as a chance goes by (left) while rafael (right, centre) is congratulated on his goal  falcao's spectacular fall from favour is starkly shown by the 'u21' badge on the arm of his united shirt  van gaal's decision to select the 29 year old in the under 21s is indicative of the united manager's ongoing concerns over the colombian international's fitness levels however, the united boss usually asks senior players to play at this level only if they are on their way back from injury falcao has been injury free since recovering from a thigh injury at the end of november and is unlikely to be pleased at being asked to drop down a level at a time when he is desperately trying to prove he is worth a permanent deal united officials say falcao, one of the most feared strikers in world football before he suffered a cruciate ligament injury last january, was chosen to ensure he would be sharp for the first team's clash with spurs at the same venue on sunday afternoon falcao heads the ball towards goal but his drought goes on after another unsuccessful outing  sportsmail reported earlier this year that falcao feels he has to work twice as hard to impress his manager as some other players and has been less than thrilled at times to hear his manager question his fitness levels but on this evidence he will do well to win a recall from louis van gaal after an anonymous performance in a poor first half falcao dallied too long on two opportunities and his only other action of note came when he deflected fellow striker james wilson's goal bound effort wide from an offside position united coaches (left right) paul mcguinness (u18s), ryan giggs, nicky butt and tony strudwick (fitness) watch on  falcao looks to get in between the tottenham defence at old trafford as united are held by spurs  falcao has another effort on goal but is again frustrated as united searched for the winner  expertly marshalled by spurs' centre half pairing of 17 year old cameron carter vickers and south african bongani khumalo, 28, the monaco man cut a desperately frustrated figure in the second half he was at it again when he diverted sean goss's shot into the arms of spurs keeper luke mcgee before his disappointing evening came to a merciful end in contrast brazilian right back rafael, fighting for his future at united, was a standout he calmly intercepted mcgee's throw out before chipping him with his left foot from 30 yards on 33 minutes to cancel out lively spurs midfielder kenny mcevoy's opener having only scored four times during his six months at united, the chances of falcao being retained in the summer are almost nil united have not seen enough to suggest he will prove value for money in the long run while falcao feels he has not always been given a fair crack of the whip by van gaal after monday's cup exit against arsenal, van gaal reacted with irritation when asked about the decision to sign falcao and release danny welbeck last august welbeck returned to old trafford to score the winner in arsenal's 2 1 win last night welbeck said: 'manchester united is a club that means so much to me i'm a fan and it's hard to knock them out i'll always respect the fans i had a lovely reception from them and i'm thankful for that' the colombian looks bemused as he is substituted before shaking hands with coach warren joyce 
radamel falcao manchester under 21 tottenham hotspur tuesday night a day earlier colombian united the fa cup falcao 250,000 432million the summer old trafford louis van gaal
radamel falcao named in manchester united under 21 side to play tottenham hotspur on tuesday night  a day earlier the colombian was an unused substitute as united were knocked out of the fa cup by arsenal  falcao is paid £250,000 a week and united have an option to buy him for £432million in the summer  his demotion on tuesday night represented a new low in his loan stint at the old trafford club  louis van gaal does not usually ask players to play in the reserves unless they are returning from injury 