Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim criticised Radamel Falcao's decision to go out on loan to Manchester United and Chelsea as the Colombia striker attempts to rediscover his best form.
Falcao suffered a serious knee injury midway through his first season at Monaco and was sent out on loan to United for the 2014-15 Premier League campaign, only to move on to Chelsea the following term.
But he failed to impress in England, netting just five goals in all competitions for the two clubs.
Back in France and Ligue 1, Falcao already has two goals in four appearances and, while questioning his time in the Premier League, Jardim insisted the 30-year-old remains one of the world's best strikers.
"The problem with Falcao is not only his knee injury, it is also the fact that he left to play two seasons in Manchester and Chelsea," said Jardim.
"He tried to keep playing at a high level when normally when you have an injury like this, you stay in your club to try to come back faster.
"When a player is injured, normally they do not change club. It's not easy to recover and play along. Players are not machines."
Jardim continued: "I do not know if it was a mistake, but it did not work well. He did not play, but it is not a problem of quality because he remains one of the best strikers.
"He has not changed. He's only 30 years old. Here our aim is to help him back to his level."
Falcao scored on his comeback from concussion in a 6-2 win against Montpellier last week and the former Atletico Madrid star will be eager to add to his tally when Monaco face Saint-Etienne on Saturday.
