In 2012-13, the "Tiger" Radamel Falcao scored a whopping 28 goals in 34 games. T

hat career-high came on the heels of putting in 24 goals a year earlier.

It was at that point that Falcao made a major career move and took his talents from Madrid to Monaco, where he was expected to be a lethal force alongside fellow Colombian James Rodriguez.

But in late January 2014, the superstar's career would be altered forever. During a Coupe de France match against Chasselay, Falcao was tackled by defender Soner Ertek and later found out that he had a serious injury that would leave him out of the game for six months. He had surgery and did his utmost to prepare for the FIFA World Cup in June, but alas was not able to get back into top shape to make the team.

Colombia did well without him, but Falcao has not been the same player since his Monaco injury. Or did the injury just conceal what was to come for Falcao?

At 29, the Colombian captain should be in his prime, but he is actually facing a steep decline this year. He has scored just four goals on the year and is on pace for a ghastly six goals on the year (assuming he plays in every remaining Manchester game), which is down from the nine he scored in 17 games for Monaco last season.

While he averaged 3.6 shots in his finest year for Atletico Madrid in 2012-13, he was down to 2.9 shots per game for Monaco in the Ligue 1. His key passes dropped from 0.9 per match for Atleti to 0.5 per game for Monaco. And those numbers have declined further since joining Manchester United this past summer. He is only averaging 1.8 shots per goal for Manchester, though he is getting in more key passes per game (up to 0.8 per game, still below his career average of 0.9). His aerial prowess, one of his biggest assets, is also on the decline (he won 2.2 aerials per game in 2012-13, then saw the stat drop to 1.1 at Monaco and is now averaging 0.9 at Manchester).

His average passes per game have also seen a sharp decline. He was getting in around 22.9 per game in 2012-13 but only managed 21.5 per game for Monaco. That drop is minimal when considered hat he is only getting in 18.3 passes per game for Manchester this season. That said, he has a career-high four assists this season.

But as is always the case with numbers, they do not tell the entire story. At Atletico Madrid, Falcao was the main man at the front of Diego Simeone's offense. There was no one else, just Falcao. The same went at Monaco where he was still averaging 0.52 goals per game (nine in 17). He played a total of 1,398 minutes in that span for Monaco, almost 400 more minutes than he has for Manchester through the same span of appearances.

But for Manchester United Falcao is not the first choice. Maybe not even the second. He has to cope with Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie being the team's preferred forward choices. He has started just 12 games this season in Manchester's first 27 games of the year. If he got to start in half of the 11 remaining games, he would only start in a total of 18 games for United this year; he started 16 for Monaco a year ago. As always, this means a small sample size and those are not always to be trusted.

Moreover, Monaco was a top team in the French Ligue 1 last season; Manchester United is fighting to stay in the top four. When Falcao was at Atletico Madrid, the team was competing for Spain's title. So playing for a better team would obviously help Falcao play up to the standard expected of him.

Additionally, England is a far more physical league than Spain's or France's and that might be slowing down Falcao who might still be struggling with the knee injury. We have seen other players (notably Van Persie) struggle with injuries in the Premier League and it is likely no different for Falcao.

It will be interesting to see how Falcao progresses during the balance of the year. And when he heads to another team for the fourth straight year (almost a certainty at this point), how will he respond? At 30, he should still be an effective superstar that puts up close to 20 goals in top form. But is this a function of his team or is Falcao's body really in decline? It will be a story to look out for.

All stats from WhoScored.com.