Alan Smith was much loved by our fans because of the effort he put in to every game. His tackles would come flying in, he would track down any ball and he was rewarded with his name being sung week after week.
However, he was supposed to be a striker and the best he could manage was 6 goals in 31 games (9 goals in 41 games in all competitions). This didn’t dampen the affection from the fans though, but it did mean he had to play in central midfield. It wasn’t all bad from there. His Man of the Match performance against Chelsea, when we put a stop to their 30 game unbeaten streak, saw him boss a midfield containing Frank Lampard, Michael Essien and Claude Makelele. His hard work and tireless running paid off every now and again, in games like that, but sadly there were far more appearances like his hapless effort against Middlesbrough where he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing or where he was supposed to be standing.
The last goal Smith scored for United was against Roma in April 2007. He hasn’t scored a goal since that since moving on to Newcastle either. Yet he was a striker adored by our fans.
Carlos Tevez was so well liked at Old Trafford that large portions of the ground felt it was appropriate to chant “Fergie, sign him up!” to drown out Sir Alex Ferguson’s end of season speech, after we had just equalled the record of 18 league titles. After a good first season when he had no competition in the starting line-up, Tevez struggled to make an impact when he was rotated following the purchase of Dimitar Berbatov.
Tevez played for 1856 minutes in the league and scored just 5 goals, an average of 1 goal per every 6 hours 11 minutes on the pitch. That was irrelevant to our fan base though. Like Smith, he ran around all over the place, he chased down every ball, he’d do anything he could to put the tackle in, so our fans were desperate to keep him. His name was sung every week.
Towards the end of his United career, he frequently voiced his displeasure at being left on the bench. He criticised the manager whilst still a United player after the European Cup final. He had a strop whenever he was subbed off. But that didn’t matter to our fans.
Then we have Dimitar Berbatov, a player whose skill shouldn’t even be mentioned on the same page as Tevez and Smith, who was offered more money from Manchester City but didn’t even bother to meet them, so intent was he on signing for United. He doesn’t just talk the talk, claiming to be loyal to United when really he has his eye on more money elsewhere. He proved this when he left the airport with Sir Alex two summers ago, knowing that even just a meeting with Mark Hughes would have raised the salary offer from United.
September 3rd 2008: “If I want to play for the money, I would accept the Manchester City offer or Chelsea. The red shirt is the really big thing for me. I want to play for the biggest club in the world.”
October 2nd 2008: “I feel happy playing in this team. It is everything I thought it would be. Ryan Giggs has been here since the beginning and says he never wanted to go anywhere else. I don’t want to go anywhere either.”
November 16th 2008: “I am just myself. I don’t want to be compared with anybody else – especially a legend like Cantona. If you ask some of the guys here, I am the quiet one. I don’t talk much. I prefer to listen and watch. I’ve been like that all my life. I don’t play for myself, I play for the team. You have 75,000 people supporting you every game, the most successful coach in the world and the best players in the world. What more could you want to try and improve?”
September 6th 2009: “I would not say my playing style is laid back, it is just a different style. I like time on the ball and I like space. If I can get that, then I know I can free up players like Nani and Wayne Rooney, who do lots of running. I am ready to sweat blood for this club.”
October 2nd 2009: “I am a footballer playing for the best club in the world. I am playing with legends like Scholes, Giggs and Rooney. Being coached by a man like Sir Alex Ferguson. How can I not be happy?”
Berbatov is aware that sections of the fans still don’t like him but he is quite happy to take that criticism on board.
“Then that is my fault, not theirs,” he said. “It is me who must change. Manchester United is their club. They have treated me perfectly since I came.”
Football is very much about statistics these days but Berbatov would like to see his statistics put him on top for work rate.
“I don’t run for no reason,” he added. “I am always alert and ready. I will be honest. This criticism did affect me, but not in a negative way. I looked at our ProZone stats and saw that I was 9th in distance covered. I am kind of a nerd. I looked at them too much, maybe. By the end of the season I was 4th. Maybe this season I will be 1st!”
May 13th 2010: “I have arrived where I wanted to be, I have reached the summit. United is the biggest team and I will fight to stay there until the end of my contract.”
May 18th 2010: “By joining Manchester United I have achieved everything I wanted.”
September 20th 2010: “I was disappointed with myself that I could not please all the supporters. I have said before the people of Manchester United are the judges and that is the way it should be. It is their team. I am a guest. A privileged guest. I’m not tired. I feel alive. I have always said I am so lucky to play here. For these people. For this manager. For this club. With these players. I can’t describe it.”
September 27th 2010: “I write things down about the way we train and how he treats people. It is like a school. You work with the best manager and play with the best players. I try to learn. I am at the biggest club in the world. If I can learn anywhere it is here.”
But it didn’t matter that he loved playing for the club more than he did earning the top salary, it didn’t matter that he created more goalscoring opportunities than any other striker in the league, it didn’t matter that he never complained about being left out of the team, it didn’t matter than he was scoring more than the much loved Smith or Tevez, because Berbatov was “lazy”. Berbatov didn’t run around enough, he didn’t track back enough, he didn’t sprint after lost causes, and he had poor “body language”.
Berbatov hasn’t changed his style. He still doesn’t run around like a headless chicken, he still doesn’t waste energy by exerting more effort than he feels is needed, he’s not sliding in making tackles left, right and centre. His touch is as good as it ever was, he keeps possession as well as he always has, but now that the team is playing in a formation to get the best out of him, he’s scoring goals. Now the fans are encouraging him by singing his song (still too infrequently for my liking), instead of jeering and grumbling, he has the confidence to have a go in situations where in the past he would have looked for the pass.
Even the Berbafans knew that our Bulgarian had to score more goals to be better appreciated. With the price tag he came with and his role as striker, 12 goals wasn’t enough. However, the 12 goals was more than double what Tevez scored in his last season when he was adored.
Now Berbatov is currently the Premiership’s top scorer with 14 goals, his “languid” style isn’t a problem for most fans. It doesn’t matter that he appears “lazy”, it doesn’t matter that he spins around in a circle and waves his hands about when the ball doesn’t come where he wants it, it doesn’t matter that he doesn’t aimlessly sprint around the field. But it is a sad state of affairs that, whilst attitudes are changing, both Smith and Tevez were treated so much better by our fans than Berbatov still is now, despite the fact he massively outscores them and absolutely loves being a Manchester United player.
So, now that he’s scoring, does it matter than he’s “lazy”? If not, why did it matter so much before, when he was still scoring more than Tevez and Smith had done?
Man Utd News 24/7
Fantastic post. Thank you Scott the Red.
Fantastic person. Thank you Dimitar Berbatov.
I want him so much to become a United legend! He deserves it.
Spot on Scott. Even the past seasons when Berba didn’t score as many goals as now, I always thought he was one of the best in the team. Rooney scored alot last season, but many of the goals came because of Berbas movement.
Berbatov is a model professional and a United through and through. His name should be sang more often, and his contribution more appreciated. He would do anything for the club… it’s as easy as that really!
Spot on Scott… He’s working as hard as he can and he’s finally maturing and moulded into a Manchester United player. He must keep this form up, however. At our club, as poor ben foster admitted, the pressure to peform will always be there.
What really pleases me though, is his attitude. I noticed against Sunderland when he came off, he was joking with Sir Alex, notwithstanding he was left out for the previous match against Arsenal. Would Tevez have done that? Berbatov, at least, is a breath of frsh air, for that matter
A striker shouldnt be judged for his workrate but for his goals and attacking contributions. I never rated Tevez. Its great that Berbatov seems to find that bit of aggression and hunger that was lacking in his game. Before this season, it seemed that he preffered passing rather than shooting when in a goalscoring position and lacked the hunger to be at the end of crosses
wow. really puts an end to the debate.
berba for life.
It was always a problem of knowing how to get the best out of him and use him the best possible way.
My fear about Berbatov has never been about his ability but about his shyness, that in the games we needed him to show he’d shrink. I was worried even a few games back that he’d never develop the swagger he needed to take centre stage but last night we saw him really step up. Yes he has been playing better recently but yesterday he was the man who lifted us, he didn’t wait for others, he started the move that led to our goal and finished it and at a time not when we were cruising but when we needed some invention, some genius. Yesterday night I began to believe in Dimitar Berbatov.
Rooney on the other hand leaves me perplexed. If Berba had played that badly he’d be getting torn to pieces across the internet and in the papers right now as a £30m flop. Rooney had 3 shots in the first 20 minutes and none of them looked remotely threatening and after that he was dire. His touch is way, way off and his decision making seems to have gone awol. We’re told he needs to play his way into form but how many games does he need?
A few months back he was publicly embarassing the club and intimating that the calibre of player at the club now wasn’t good enough for us to continue being successful yet right now those other players are carrying him and his enhanced paypacket.
No. It didn’t matter to me that he was lazy before and it sure as hell doesn’t matter now. And for the record, Alan Smith’s poor record didn’t matter either. What I like from United players, is dedication on and off the pitch. Smith and Berba have that. The other player you mentioned Scott didn’t. He was only dedicated to his agent. And that’s why he is nowhere close to Smith and Berb’s United status in my opinion.
And by the way, Berba has already had his best goalscoring season for us and we’ve just reached the half way point. More to come Dimi.
I am so happy he is finally getting the praise and recognition he totally deserves. He has been an absolute professional. Berbatov is an amazing player with a lot of class.
This particular quote, explains why I have always had so much respect for the guy.
____
Berbatov is aware that sections of the fans still don’t like him but he is quite happy to take that criticism on board.
“Then that is my fault, not theirs,” he said. “It is me who must change. Manchester United is their club. They have treated me perfectly since I came.”
___
Berba = Top class.
Does Berbatov play for United? I hope Red Scot, Willie or Costas can answer me…. Never heard of him
Like a dog with a bone, eh Scott? Of course fans won’t give a toss, about Berbatov supposedly being lazy, he’s banging in the goals now. You can use the argument for Rooney, once he starts scoring again, his past troubles will be forgot about quickly. Back to Berbatov, really happy for him, because he received some terrible abuse last season, which at times was disgusting and vile. Now, he’s proving the non believers wrong, by scoring goals for fun this year. I said a few weeks ago, that Rooney and Berbatov could be an explosive partnership, but SAF needs to find a way to fit both in the same team.
Great post STR by the way
Before the Ambition-gate scandal, fans would plainly ignore all of Rooney’s bad qualities (his temper, his first touch lets him down so so often and screws up quite a few passes per game) and happily pick on Berbatov, who’s touch & passes exceed almost everyone in the team but doesn’t have that run-around-like-a-lunatic approach.
Since the scandal, fan’s now can have a more unbiased approach to Rooney and can see that Berbatov is really the man of the moment and perhaps has been for quite a while longer than they realised.
Say what you want guys, but this will be like last season. Berbatov has great skills, but if hé doesn’t change his style of play, he won’t be useful for our big games in CL. Because he won’t be able to score goals by being lazy. In fact you can score goals if you are lazy, but you have to play with your body. He won’t be able to keep the ball then score. Did you wonder why Fergie played with Rooney against Arsenal? Because when you’re alone in the offensive line you have to be tough, and he is not. The only difference between berba and zlatan is this lazy thing.
Never got the Smith thing, I was appalled when we signed him, not because he was from Leeds, I just never thought he improved the team and surely thats what you expect your bought in players to do. All that running around snarling never did for me.
As for Berba, I can honestly say I’m glad the sulky twat (joke) is being more consistent, look smore and more like he could be the key to the 19th
Nice to see a babe as a lines ‘woman’ at the Sunderland v Blackpool game…. yummy! lol
Agree with everything thats been said in this article, he is a top,top, player
I used to come in here and critisize Berba a lot ,as i thought his style of play is not suited with Manchester United style of play,however i’m more than happy to come again and eat humple pie as long as he continues to prove i was wrong and continues to bang goals
GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED.
Costas – top post buddy.
The same can be said for Anderson, what a player he’s developing into.
ok. now Im a bebatovian.
It’s great to see Berba coming into his own and gaining acceptance among his critics, albeit still somewhat grudging. It’s interesting to note that he took on board some of the criticisms of his play, without rancour or arrogance , such as his work-rate stats, consciously setting out to improve them. You could see the benefit last night, when his defensive headed clearances were sometimes in the Vidic class. In that respect he’s probably the best striker since Frank Stapleton at defending corners.
Jaydee – Said that last night, spot on. But, he has brought a lot of this crap on himself and it’s up to him to put it right.
i feel like a twat for doubting this guy.
Berba,you are loved in Iceland by your Man Utd fans,like me..
Now your beginning to score goals just as you promissed before this season and man you´ve
done a really good thing for Manchester United scoring those 14 goals……
I know that you will score much more this seaso and will get the golden boot.
And remember:
Greetings from Reykjavik,Iceland
Brandur
berba is fantastic
Nice post!
When he wasn’t scoring regularly then of course fans were going to get on his back because it was like carrying a player. If your game is entirely based upon providing a cutting edge – like Berbatov – and you aren’t doing that then you are basically a passenger. I actually think he is working harder this season and maybe that is helping him get goals.
Great Post Scott…. Your spot on too.
I and my Brother have been at each others throats since Berbatov signed. I have always been in Berba’s corner cause I used to watch spurs just to watch him and I knew he could be huge for us….while my brother was a Tevez fan and probably still is to this day.
And after two years of trying to fight a seemingly unwinnable battle…. Berba is finally shutting up his doubters.
The nerves I would get before a game begging for Berba to score are finally going away!
Also totally agree with the Berba chant! It should be sung 3 times as much as it does now! – If Rooney had scored yesterday I guarantee for the majority of the game after you would have heard rooney’s chant!
i’ve always been amazed with the quality of the 1st touch and ball control of BERBA. I always adore and love to see him play. I become furious when he is left out by Fergie. He is such a wonderful player. He is not only a player of UTD, but also a fan on the pitch.
his skills are way too advanced for the average fan to comprehend. football may be working class but this berba guy is aristocracy. i think that middleton bird is after him now. anyway without nani/valencia/park our game is completely f’d. no other word
and congratulations on the ashes. this team from australia has no talent, character or balls. its a rut for australia and some justice given you guys got completely shafted for the world cup.
we may win the title but it will be another example of the bradbury effect. reference to stephen bradbury, the australian who won the 2002 speed skating meddle cause everyone else fell over.. but i will take it under any circumstance.
THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for writing this article. I hope all the Berba haters and doubters read this and learn some humility and gratitude. I feel honored that such a superbly talented footballer and GENUINELY good guy plays for our club. “Form is temporary…class is permanent”. Manchester United is all class and I care first for the reputation of Manchester United then second for the trophy cabinet. We have won less trophies than Real Madrid, Barcelona and AC Milan yet United is the most popular football club in the world. I believe one of the reasons is that our players, both past and present, are special…unique…one of a kind…memorable…dignified…honorable…legendary. I am proud to be a fan of the greatest football…nay…SPORTS club in the world.
@ Scott, whether Smith scored six times or once, never put Him in the same category of Tevez. Smith during his time with us gave his all and remember joining United from leeds was a lifetime sacrifice for him cos unlike Rio and Eric, He is Leeds born and bred thus He will have to live with abuse from His hometown. Think about it. You can talk about some of his poor games but remember that Dimi had some abject ones as well! I agree fans need to appreciate Dimi more but putting Smith and Tevez together is unacceptable! You Scott love Eric Cantona and idolise him but some fans prefer Best, some Charlton, others Dennis Law etc but one thing is common to them: they wore the red shirt with distinction.
I am happy to say that I’m not one of those who slags him off. The only thing I have ever said to myself was: ‘This guy has so much ability, he should be scoring at least 20 league goals a season’. That is not a criticism of him, more of an acknowledement of his skill, first touch and all round top notch ability. Now he is at last having a productive output in the final 3rd. I can see 25 league goals from him this season. Shame Rooney is not chipping in, hopefully that should change in the new year. I wanted Tevez gone the second he bad mouthed Sir Alex, and I cringed with embarrassment when all the fans were singing ‘Fergie sign him up’, when the great man was making his final home game speech. Berba has nothing but good things to say about our club, the manager, the players and the fans, so for that, I have nothing but respect for him.
l tot it is obvious he was not playing the way he is now in previous season. Now he is showing the form we knew he can and sulks less. He stays in the box more, harries the defence. The fact that he is on a roll is also helping his confidence, seems to enjoy his footie more. Berba for PFA and golden boot.
I’d hope this should be the final time a post like this needs to be made. Anybody who doesn’t love Berbatov is a fucking City fan as far as I am concerned. Normally I’m tolerant of people’s opinions and whatnot but a lot of what was said about Berbatov was just ignorant fuckwits spraying shit around like busted sewage pipes.
The folks who were slating Berbatov need to go to see a shrink and get themselves checked out because they could be bitter, they could be small time, and they could be more comfortable in a blue shirt.
don’t really have much to say on this subject because we’ve been over it 100 times.the guy is a great footballer and a decent human being who genuinely loves utd why somes fans have a problem with him is beyond me.
As a long-time (and vocal) BerbaSceptic, I’m quite happy to eat some humble pie. Although, I must add, that Dimmy’s skills were never in doubt with me nor was his application; what was questionable about his play was his positioning.
I’ve written often – too often, I suspect – that to get the best out of DimitarBerbatov’s exquisite skills he needs to be played centrally AND forward. And, guess what ? For most of this season that’s where SAF has stationed him and the end-product has bubbled up. Is this a coincidence ? I don’t think so.
I was happy with the transfer but was disappointed for two years – yep two years ! – that SAF wasn’t using this guy in the proper way. Now that he’s played centrally AND forward we can see that all the talk about “laziness” is just nonsense; Dimmy is – and always has been – a “touch player”. Where better to take advantage of that exquisite first-touch than inside the box ?
Oh, yeah, if he was “lazy” then he wouldn’t have made that run after back-heeling the ball to Darron Gibson (who now seems to be the fair-weather fans’ favourite whipping boy). And if Dimmy didn’t make that run then he wouldh’t have been in position to receive the wall pass from Gibson and take the shot that led to the goal.
As I’m sure you’re aware Scott, it’s an English thing, this irrational, anti-intellectual belief that passion is first and foremost the primary attribute that a footballer must possess. If a team lose, they must not have been passionate enough, and more passion is required on top of the copious amounts that were already there.
Berbatov is a Total Footballer of the Dutch mould, simple as. As I read those quotes of his, it reminded me of the many things I have read about being said by the great Johan Cruyff.
A lot of our fans don’t deserve Berbatov, and having had such mercurial geniuses in the past such as Best, Cantona and Scholes, you’d have thought they would have learnt by now.
Berbatov was excellent to watch last night. His touch, control and trying to create chances were better than anyone. Glad that everything is going right for him this season, he deserves it after all the respect he has for this club.
Hopefully we never have to debate his stats against other strikers. He is the reason why we are in first place to begin with.
god i hate the feeling when something you’ve always backed and promoted finally comes through with the goods and your forced to sit back and listen to ‘new believers’ pretending they’ve always knew it would happen. “I told you so” just doesn’t quite cut the mustard.
off topic, Malaysia won the AFF Suzuki Cup ! Wohoooo ! Scott, write something about it please. Even Rio tweet on the news . http://twitter.com/rioferdy5/status/20118311979196417
I have spent 2 – 3 years defending the guy on various forums, especially when it comes to the double standard applied to the likes of Wayne Rooney, arguably the most over-rated footballer of recent generations. You think Berbatov would have been spared the knives had he gone on a nine month scoreless streak, or that people would have glossed over a missed penalty in the manner that Rooney was spared for his ridiculous and totally uncontrolled blast over goal recently? Week in and week out, Rooney is given excuses or found to have made ‘significant contributions’ despite his ongoing goal drought and lackluster play. Even when playing well, Rooney is renowned for his hot and cold streaks regarding goal scoring (for England as well as United) but it’s always papered over with ‘Oh, Wayne’s such a world class talent, the goals will eventually come’. Funny how no one rips Roo to shreds for such inconsistency but still uses the word with unfailing regularity to describe Berbatov, even in a backhanded manner when discussing his fabulous five goal performance recently.
Another point to note is the constant theme about Berbatov supposedly being lazy. For the rare few with the kind of talent the Bulgarian possesses, time seems to march to a different drum where players like they’re concerned. What is also true is that such a gift bestows an unwanted perception about their talents, that the game comes so easy to them that they don’t even look as if they’re trying – hence the ‘languid’ and ‘lazy’ descriptions regarding Berbatov. It’s a false perception in many ways, because if you look at the stats Berbatov covers more than his fair share of ground during a game, and what’s more applies his energy far more intelligently than most other players.
One of his least appreciated gifts is also one of the things he’s often criticized for, which is his defense. He might not run all over the pitch like a headless chicken, a la Wayne Rooney, but there is no one better at United then Berbatov when it comes to holding on to the ball against multiple defenders with what at times seems ridiculous ease and unappreciated strength. He thus maintains possession well (unlike Rooney who is one of the great wastrels at United) pulls defenders away, opens up the field of play, and usually finishes off the situation by passing the ball intelligently to an open team mate. That whole package seem too subtle for the many pundits and fans who constantly criticize the Bulgarian for his supposed lack of a work ethic.
Additionally, if you want to see the vast gulf that exists in talent between Berbatov and Rooney, look at Berbatov’s goal from the game against Birmingham, which was scored with such effortless grace. As is typical of the man, he latched on to a pass from a team mate, and with little time to make a decision casually set up the shot and slotted the ball into the narrow gap open to him between the goalie and the post, making the whole thing look simple. As with virtually all of Berbatov’s shots, one always gets the sense that he knows exactly where the ball is going when it leaves his boot – even when he misses you get the sense that he was trying to be too cute and pushing his gifts to the limits, rather than the shot being totally aimless. Watching Rooney by comparison is to wonder if his scattergun approach will net a goal or not because he seems to have as little idea as anyone else where the ball will go when he blasts away at the net – unlike Berbatov, Rooney always seems to lack poise and time when taking his shots, which results in his frustrating habit of blasting the ball in all directions rather than at the goal, even to the extent that his signature shot of late has become the stratospheric canon well over the goal – it’s even crept into his penalty shots!
Oddly though, the fact Rooney bustles so much over his shots feeds into the perception amongst his fans that he’s always trying, that he’s a hustler always working away for his team – never mind all the errant passes, blown goals, lousy first touch that kills so many opportunities, or lost possession resulting from his lack of vision or poor decision making. One of these days maybe people will realize that, contrary to popular belief, busting your arse running all over the pitch does not denote class. Most of us, if fit, could do that. What very few of us could accomplish though is to replicate the sublime talents of a genius like Berbatov.
It’s a shame he so unappreciated at United, because players like the Bulgarian rarely come along in football. For vision, touch, and situational awareness, he remind me a great deal of Johann Cruyff, which is saying something. One always had the sense that the great Dutchman knew at any given moment where every single team mate – and opponent – was on the pitch and that every pass or move was orchestrated on the basis of that knowledge. No one ever brought others into a game as well as he did. Berbatov’s very similar, though in a different position – look what he did for Keane at Tottenham. Rooney doesn’t seem to have the nouse to tune in, but others in the side seem to be getting the idea of what Berbatov has to offer. I can only hope that the rest of the fan base wakes up to it as well one day.
A final note on Berbatov. He’s an intelligent and thoughtful guy who’s seen sides to life in his native land that would prove sobering for most people, not least the manner in which he was kidnapped as a teenager – even now, stories continue to circulate regarding threats to his family from criminal elements in Bulgaria. Unlike the cossetted lifestyles so many modern footballers enjoy virtually from the moment their talents are identified as children, Berbatov remains a grounded individual who’s well aware that there’s much more to life than just football and keeps everything healthily in perspective.
He loves playing for United, is a pretty selfless guy on the pitch as well as off it, and a pretty decent guy off it. What more could you ask of a player both professionally and personally?
The below piece from a Berbatov interview sums it all up that how much he loves playing for the Biggest club in the world and appreciates the chance for turning out at the greatest stage at Old Trafford week-in week-out!!!
Question: What do you think is the best part of being a Manchester United player?
Dimitar Berbatov: Being a Manchester United player!!!
It still amazes me how a certain section of fans still miss Tevez and would prefer that prick over Berbatov, who is Manchester United through and through!!!
DIMITAR BERBATOV = A FOOTBALLING GENIUS = A FOOTBALLING ARTIST = A UNITED LEGEND IN THE MAKING!!!
GLORY GLORY MAN UNITED!!!
timbo
You Rock!
Dimitar (earth mother) has been the antithesis of Rooney this year.
Great guy begining to show his worth! I see him scoring at least a brace every home game from Jan to early March!
@timbo
You are 100% right. I completely agree.
United4eva says:
“he started the move that led to our goal and finished it and at a time not when we were cruising but when we needed some invention, some genius.”
Yeah and with movement like that, how will he not be compared to Cantona.
Yay Berba! Am glad I stuck up for you when the goings were hard. A happy man here.
Great article. Nice posts from Costas, Giles Oakley and others too. Berbatov is the reason I started coming to this forum, a year or so ago. I was desperate to find some place where he wasn’t being constantly slagged off. This was it. By the way, Berba’s record haul in the PL was 15 for Spurs, the year before he joined us. He has almost equaled that this year already.
I would be a great fan of his just on his ability, but his attitude is pure bonus. I usually don’t pay much attention to what footballers say about their clubs, but in his case, I do think he’s genuine, and I love him for it.
His contract will be interesting. He will be 30 by the end of this season, and only one more year left on his initial deal. I do hope the club re-signs him. I don’t suppose we can expect to sign a deal for more than a couple of years, given his age, and it’s even possible that he might go on one-year rolling contracts, like Giggs or Scholes. Since he appears to have zero inclination to ever play anywhere else, I wouldn’t see a problem with that.
The Berbatov we seen last night in the second half, was the Berbatov that shone at Spurs. Fully conifdent, imperious touch and then the world class finish for the goal. Keeps this up, and he’ll easily reach Fergies target of 25 goals for the season. Don’t know if the boss has a side bet with Berbatov, but good luck getting money of the gaffer Berba lol.
Scott, I usually agree with you on most things but I’d like to speak up on this issue before the love-in turns into a complete jizz-fest.
Yes, Berbatov is enjoying fine fettle and form at the moment. If that was down to Berba alone I’d be happy to accept that earlier comments over the course of the last 2 seasons might just have proved inaccurate.
But it isn’t just down to Berba, not by any stretch of the imagination.
We have changed the entire way we play to accomodate one player (more of that later), something we tried to do while we had the services of Cristiano and Tevez but struggled to succesfully achieve given the disparity between the effectiveness of their pace along with Rooney and Berba’s comparitively languid style.
Since those two left we have reverted to a more pensive, passing, possession-based style and after a season (2009/10) to familiarise ourselves with this new ethos, it’s no surprise to see that a player of Berbatov’s skillset is thriving. It has of course helped that he scored early on in the season and has taken a much-needed confidence boost from it, something which has put a literal spring in his step, an extra incentive to run onto a ball or force a burst of pace to beat the man.
Yes, his goalscoring stats look impressive but they are heavily skewered by the 5 he scored at home to Blackburn and we musn’t forget that he had disappeared for some time before that. It’s ironic that those of us who have spoken ‘against’ Berbatov in previous seasons are now being reminded of the great run he’s on – where were these people during said barren spell (before Blackburn). I have nigh on 2 years of performances to call on and you have the audacity to use a good 3.5 months to justify a perceived sense of superiority? Jog on.
While we’re on the subject of disappearing, doesn’t it say it all that in a match of such great importance, SAF still preferred to err on the side of caution and go with an out-of-sorts Rooney? Liverpool at home this season aside, Berba has rarely showed up in a crunch match before (Bolton away a couple of seasons ago and Sunderland at home in the last campaign in his defence), preferring instead to shrink under pressure when United need him most. A nice flick against Brum, a pirhouette against WHU, a backheel against Sunderland etc, very nice on the eye (and this season we’ve been lucky enough to see some substance go along with it) but please don’t fùcking dare put his name alongside Cantona.
Which neatly segways tomy next point; I mentioned earlier that we’ve changed the way we play to accomodate a singe player. This is not new. We have done so before with the likes of Cantona, Ruud and Ronaldo. In the case of the latter two, this ended up becoming a detriment to the team (Ruud in general, Ronaldo in the CL Final in Rome). I like to think Cantona, the genius he is/was, realised this and left for the greater prosperity of Manchester United Football Club (though many of us couldn’t fathom why at the time), one last altruistic act to secure the rise of the phoenix from the ashes, if you will.
I fear it will end in the same way. Our play no longer inspires fear in the opponent, it no longer generates that same rush of excitement that accompanied the sight of fearless forwards countering at breakneck speed against a bewildered, disorientated opposition. Our midfield deficiencies were papered over by a style that maximised the pure power and stature of an impermeable, towering defence and the raking, clinical nature of our attack. This new, almost contemplative style ruthlessly exposes those same deficiencies by delivering belief to the opposition – belief that, as long as United are in front of you and happy to leave space, given enough time with United’s uncreative midfield, chances will inevitably arrive and victory is actually possible.
Gloat in the short-term if you must but the bigger picture looks, to me at least, far more unsettling. We might even win the league this year (I obviously hope so) but with Chelsea sure to open the chequebook sooner or later, City’s financial muscle bound to close the gap and the general tightening of the league at the top, I can assure you now it won’t be the signal of a return to the dominance we once revelled in. Not unless we address the issues at hand.
In short, both parties have ‘met in the middle’ so to speak, United moreso than Berba, IMO. I appreciate the grace with which he’s set about winning United fans over but I re-iterate that while he’s a quality player, he’s just not a United player. If you don’t know what I mean by that, ask Seba Veron and Diego Forlan.
Berbatov should be undroppable atm, Rooney is shite and doesn’t deserve to be on the pitch. Can’t pass even if his life depended on it. We need nani back ASAP and our game got better once giggs played on the left. We had 2 shots of the post and their goal shouldn’t have been. Ando was the only midfielder that actually put their midfield under pressure, once he was taken of it went south.
@timbo … “For the rare few with the kind of talent the Bulgarian possesses, time seems to march to a different drum where players like they’re concerned.” There was a great quote from one of Berba’s ex-teammates at Spurs: “He (Berba) discovered a part of time that we didn’t know existed”. Pretty much sums it up, I think.
Here we go Scott with your Berbatov love in propaganda!
He’s in his 3rd season at United and for 30 million
He should have been doing the business from the get-go. Yes
This season he’s finally producing the goods, but
What about the previous seasons Scott? People have short
Memories or what! SAF dropped him on numerous
Occasions last season and his first season in big games? Why
Was that? A simple answer would be because he wasn’t
Delivering the goods ie goals. His attitude was poor and it
Showed in his performances. He already stated being a United player is
The pinacle of his career, but he thought he didn’t have to work that he just
Had to show a few flashes of his skills and that was it.
Now his attitude and effort has improved and like Nani and
Anderson he’s showing his talents but also his committment to
The team. He knows he has to deliver otherwise he’s out. It’s as
Simple as that.
As simple as KVN.
Berbastic.
@Stateside
Thanks mate. Your Berba posts are always enlightening. But you were searching for a place where he wasn’t slagged off and you chose this? Hehe. Don’t get me wrong. Scott and quite a few posters have defended the guy to death, but as willierednut can attest, the debating got so fierce at times that our heads would be on the verge of exploding.
I am self confessed former Berbahater. I have regularly called for him to be shipped off to Serie A….I really didn’t see him fitting in but I hold up my hand now and say I was wrong…I do have to say the only reasons why I didn’t see him making it at United was:
1) He didn’t see to be able to adapt to our style of play and often seemed off the pace or whenever he got the ball seemed to clearly slow our play down at detriment to the team.
2) He expressed his displeasure with teammates by openly berating them during games and consequently did not seem to be a team player.
3) Seemed to stop playing when losing the ball (which plays into your “languid” style) and lacked any defensive effort.
4) For a 30 million pound striker was not a goal threat at all and frequently flubbed sitters to the detriment of the team. For all his creativity he offered little in terms of end product.
Before people jump on me I have to say Berba has addressed all points above. In my opinion he is a totally different player…I don’t know if its due to a full pre season with United, retiring from international football or just finally settling into the club. He is no longer the timid striker who was pass first but now has a killer instinct that Rooney had last season…he works hard for the team (yes Scott for me this is one of the biggest differences in his game, he defends very well in the team concept) and is combining well with teammates….I have never doubted his talent, just his attitude and focus on team spirit and having that fighting United quality all our great players have…he may just have won me over…long live Berba!
Costas – Too right brother lol.
Scott: Maybe you should write an article on what gets a regular fan going at games?
People who love a football club want to see the same kind of emotion from the players on the field. Running their socks off, putting in tackles and such therefore goes down well with the fans.
When losing it seems like most fans have a burning need to pinpoint a very specific reason, like a player or a referee, for it. They’ll say “He was shit, he lost us the game” without reflecting on the team performance and how that perhaps affected the mentioned player.
Also, especially when it comes to strikers, they do get judged by the goals that they score. Not as many as one would like appreciate a good performance of holding up play, insisive passing and it’s importance to the result even if the player doesn’t score.
@costas, yeah, I’ve seen a few of those “debates” and taken part in one or two myself
But when I was searching for United sites with discussion of Berbatov, Google pointed me at this one and the page it found happened to be a positive Berba article from STR, so I got lucky, I guess! Cheers!
Dear everybody,
I am so in love with Dimitar at the moment that i really need to buy a shirt of his or something, however, i am staying commited to by boycott of buying united shirts whilst the glazers are in charge. And i can’t really buy the Bulgaria top cos he’s retired from them now. So, does anyone have any suggestions that won’t mean me putting money in the glazers pockets?
For all those slagging off Wayne Rooney and wonder why fans aren’t so quick to slag him off as they are Berba…..yes he has done some creepy things in the recent past…but don’t develop amnesia so quickly..as early as last season half you lot were ready to hand over your first born child when he was banging goals in for fun…also they way he took United by storm firing in a hat trick on his debut. and the countless great memories he has given us since he signed…..the deadly partnership with Ronaldo….the reason many fans still hold out hope for Wayne is because has has shown in the past he how important a player he has been for us….the same people who are were ready to build him up then are so quick to tear him down…please people…give me a break…you should be ashamed!!! I hate the fact that he was disloyal but until he leaves the club (which I believe will be when SAF leaves) I will get behind the lad….Berba is doing great now but in fairness until this season has been a good to average player for us…he is now earning the love that fans are showing him…until now I have to say he hadn’t earned it…
Was Berbatov ever lazy or was he economical with his running. I remember a certain mr Cantona who had the same swagger and work rate. Havent we had enough of headless chickens. You control the pace of the match with ball control and possesion not running blindly into alleys and passing to players that arent on the same hair brained wavelength.
Not the greatest workers Cantona Berbatov RVN Yorke.
Headless chickens Tevez Smith Rooney.
They are all interesting and decent players but i know which category i prefer, if you need hard working players they are 2 a penny and cost nought. Park Fletcher do the running, they get lower wages and dont cost much to buy. Players of the ilk of 200000 pounds a week should be a little more composed and be a continious threat using brain over muscle.
What Im concerned about when it comes to Rooney is he doesnt look teachable anymore. He scored a bucket load last year, has taken the piss out of club and manager and got away with it, picked when he has the form of Diego Forlan. He is our Steven Gerrard. An undoubtable talent but nobody in the side that can show him anything new (according to himself), already cult status even though he hasnt really acchieved that much. Hes won the league with the rest of the squad but he is no international icon without the support of his manager and the press. When his form is down and he isnt riding the momentum i cant see an obvious way of him becoming of use again. Not at that price.
I prefer a well controled playmaking center forward (Berbatov) feeding a true goal poacher and nimble No10 striker (Owen or Hernandez). The playmaking center forward could be Macheda in the future, he just needs games. But if we want a striker that runs, can play wide and seems to be a jack of all trades up the top of the pitch then we have Wellbeck, he doesnt cost 200000 a week.
PS.
@statesideaussie
i always enjoy reading your comments and makes me feel proud that there are people in this barren and isolated country that have a clue what they are talking about. if only there was somewhere here that would house a group off 100+ fans like us so we could enjoy a game like it should be.
Really enjoyed that article, I do wish he is appreciated by the rest of the fans more. A highly talented player who loves being a part of the club and has great respect for it, I couldn’t ask for more!
25 goals and he’ll satisfy the doubters 30 and he’ll be the legendary enigma adored by all. I’ve always had faith!
Rooney is just “in a bad moment” (sic Ancelotti..lol)….that is what happens with strikers…sometimes you couldn’t hit the ocean if you tried…sometimes you could hit a post on a dark night with a blindfold….the thing that worries me about Rooney is that he seems to have lost a bit of his edge… especially in front of goal…you can almost see him over thinking…he is at his best when he is instinctual (is that a word?) because he has great footballing instincts…also I don’t see the passion of the old Rooney which probably has a lot to do with the shite he created over the last 6 months…I think until that passion returns I fear we will be stuck with a mediocre Rooney…I also hope he doens’t get shoved over to the left…its obvious he is a his best when operatin in tandem with Berba or in a free role behind the strikers…
“I remember a certain mr Cantona who had the same swagger and work rate. ”
Are you fucking kidding me?
Berbatov vs. Cantona is such a one-sided comparison it’s untrue. This is what I mean, Scott – whatever happened to perspective? You moan about Tevez and Smith being praised yet people are comparing Cantona and fucking Berbatov !
Dear oh dear.
its about time we got rid of rooney the thick, mersey-born, ugly, money-grabbing useless bag of sh##te. Even last season, of the 34 goals he scored, how many of them were penalties? at least 10 and prob a few more. Almost all the goals he scored from open play were relatively simple headers or toe pokes. How many goals from outside the penalty box did rooney score last season? more than 5? I doubt it.
And that was his best season ever. Since his last goal against Bayern, he has been absolute horse manure. Get rid of the chubby creep. Wish we had kep Tevez instead and played him upfront along side Tevez. Which other player could manage zero goals from open play in ten monehts, and just one goal from the penalty spot during that same time and still keep his place. Get rid of the thick twat.
“Wish we had kep Tevez instead and played him upfront along side Tevez.”
should read- Wish we had kep Tevez instead and played him upfront along side Berbatov
Berbabriliance.
I am sick to fucking death of the jcl s that only post after a draw or defeat. Yes it was disapointing but the goal shouldn’t have stood. Oh well at least we can’t blame evans or sheasy but no this time gibbo. The lad has pkayed two fucking games all season and still set berbs up. What do peoiple expect. Get a fucking grip. Oh and carrick didn’t put a foot wrong yet still gets stick. I knew it would be difficult with no width. Playing a team who hardly ever lose at home and without nani and park and paul. Furthermore the cunts were battling for their lives. Two min later we would have been well chuffed. I notice thayt after three good ganes ando is our missing piece but after a poor game our midfield Is shite. Its getting fucking boring. Spoilt fucking babies some of ya. I would have taken a draw prior to the game. Also these folk that clearly no better than fergie please do tell me how we could have width with most our wingers out. Obertan possibly. We can’t win every game and as long as we don’t lose away and keep up our home form we will be laughing. In the schene of things brum bolton and everton away aent bad points. Just the manner. My only critiicism is how deep we drop the last ten minutes. Anyway re berb the man is a fucking genious who is finally becoming a fan favourite. Belter of a finish. Right now a win at brom which I am sure of followed by win at home to stoke. People need to chill. Who wouldn’t have taken our position two months ago? Ps. Even adrian durhan reckons we were robbed and the goal shouldn’t have stood.
I posted earlier I thought Wayne’s first match back after the nonsense would be versus Rangers,turned out he got an subs appearance at Old Trafford before that I said his performances would show us if he wanted to be at United or not.I have not seen anything from him that say’s he does.My opinion but I think his time is up and never mind the Summer,January could turn out to be very telling,again just how I view things.
ANYONE WHO GETS A HAT-TRICK AGAINST THE VERMIN IS A LEGEND IN MY BOOK…FULL STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EastStandManc – I compared Tevez and Smith because both ran around a lot and this made the fans like them. Tevez was running all over the fucking joint in his last season but scored 5 goals. Didn’t stop the vast majority of United fans being desperate to sign him. Comparison: ran around a lot, didn’t score a lot.
I didn’t notice anybody comparing Berbatov with Cantona on anything other than “swagger” and “work rate”. Am I missing something? Did Cantona appear to be working any harder than Berb does? Did he do the Tevez/Smith headless chicken routine?
Finally, in Cantona’s best season at United, he scored just 4 goals more than Berbatov has done already. I dread to think how the anti-Berb bandwagon is going to react when Berb outscores Cantona.
@ King Eric
you’re right, absolutely. Why don’t some understand that we’re playing Birmingham at their place, where their known for their solidity. And it’s not like we always score tons of goals there do we? i thought it was briliiant that we took our chance, and went ahead. And about defending deep, Carrick said, they brought the big guy Zigic on, and so our lads first instinct was to sit back and defend. Although i’m a bit skeptical about that, that shouldn’t actually be our first instinct. We’d have Vida to deal with him, so in a way, thought the goal should totally have been disallowed, we shouldn’t even be that deep in the dying minutes.
Berbatov is shite sell him now…….
Hope Redscot don’t see this….. he will start saying I,m 12 or 13 hee hee.
(12 or 13 inches more like….. I fucking wish)
just read through some previous posts and found my mate Redscot giving it large……. seems everyone wants to have a go cos he calls it as he sees it.
Reading the posts and some still aren’t convinced. He can do things with the ball others can only dream of. He is fucking subline. Also check out his goal record. Only 42 goals in about 108 games. Not too shabby. United need more players like berbs. Also of course united can still break at terrific pace. How the fuck can ya do it against brum who just sit with ten behind ball. Just wait till nani valencia and rooney hit proper form.
I don’t really see the point of another pro Berba, anti Tevez, Smith post. Of course the fans have the right to complain about a lazy striker who doesn’t score enough goals, that is what a striker is paid to do. I could understand this post if people were moaning about his lazyness whilst he was scorig a shit load of goals… I love Berbatov and personally couldn’t give a fuck if he runs like a mad man or prances round like a mincer, but what does matter is that he scores goals and that is all.. Oh and loves United whilst he’s doing it..
King of stretford end. Cheers fella. Yeah good point about sitting deep when zihgic came on. I feared the worst when he and goal poacher extrodinaire came on. Parry heid. Disagree mate. As much as wayne has been annoying me with his rapists touch did you see the sheer joy on his face when berbatov scored? The lad WILL be staying imo
King Eric – Posted that on a different thread. When Durham says the goal shouldn’t have stood, then you know the ref fucked up, big time. Not much we can do about it now though, lets get the win at Brom on Saturday and forget about the Birmingham game.
i never had doubts about him. and that was the point i was trying to make everytime someone criticize him.Why cant he be loved when we have given so much Love to a player like Tevez.
few minutes back, i had a big argue over Berba better or Torres, with one of my friend who’s a Liverpool supporter. you cant even compare him with Torres. he has his own class.
I just want him to be treated fair by the fans even when he’s not in form. I hope that fans will LOVE him till end of his career at UNITED…
♥ DB09 ♥
evening all
can someone explain to me why there hasnt been a big deal by press about the goal brum scored?? like serioulsy if that was us all hell would have broke loose ” same old united getting decisions” well thats a loada bollocks and the sayin “it will all equal out” it better fucking start in our favour….even still we are in a better position than anybody and still only to get better, number 19 is on its way whether the ABU or anyone else like it or not.
Bryan robson. Are you having a laugh mate. Rooney was unstoppable last season. I believe only about five were pens. Let’s see everyones attitude when he gets his form back. As for tevez the man is a cunt of the highest ortder and the last person I wanna see in red. As for these moaning about scotts pro berba posts he has every fucking right to considering the shite and vile abuse berba has suffered. The man is a fucking genious. Tell me anothet player who can hold the ball up and beat players with three or four round hin?yeah no cunt can.
King eric- so what is he then, a playmaker or a goalscorer! would you be singing his praises if he had only scored 3 goals this season?
You’re so anti Tevez it’s unreal, I love Berbatov, I hate Tevez but to compare them both when Tevez was mainly a bench player, look at him at City, new to their imbalanced team and he nails goals left, right and centre, it’s amazing how much better he is now, he hurries the opposition, he scores goals and he creates them. I love United but Tevez was shown a lack of respect, if Berbatov is so great, why did wee leave him out of the Arsenal tie? A massive game? Let’s no kid ourselves, he is class but so is Tevez and the comparison is just plain stupid. Let’s compare last season or this season, compare how many goals they score and in how many games. Tevez is at an ever changing team in a country he wants to leave, Berbatov is at a club he claims to love at a team who have bonded over many years and have consistency. Give Tevez a break. I hate the cunt but you’re still harsh, he was a quality player for us and it’s tragic he’s left.
fantastic article!! this article should be in a frickin news paper!! i would love every1 to read this!!
Mic
You believe Tevez: “in a country he wants to leave”
You don’t believe Berbatov: “he claims to love”
Go back, lad.
@ bryan robson’s my hero
wish we had tevez instead of rooney? i know rooney was in a poor form, but replacing him with tevez is absolutely a no. berba himself have confessed that rooney understand how he plays. rooney didnt score goals, but he did provide the goals to berbatov.
and aint tevez was a worhless argentinian-born, ugly thick motherfucker and ugly shite money grabber or whatever you call too?
give me tevez and smith. i would pick smith anytime over him.
@ mic
we dont leave berbatov because he’s not good enough for big games. we had him when we face chelshit and liverpool, dont we? and we had him too when we won the community shield dont we?
let me ask you back. if tevez was that potential and so great, why did fergie always left him on the bench. why the fuck did that ugly motherfucker complains when he functions as the supersub.
ole gunnar never complained when he was a supersub.
king Eric.
You could well be right,I’m just using a hunch same way I pick my horse bets nothing concrete just snippets here and there.Did see his delight at the goal however like most supporters was quite easily fooled by previous actions/statements so tend to use salt now.
You’re right. I think Berbatov is just about ready to peform against top class opposition! He’s at his peak, he cost £30.75m and he’s been at the club for two and a half years. With superb value like that, maybe Ferguson can be trusted to buy players over 25 again for large fees! I’m looking forward to his contiuned excellence against Europe’s best.
DB9, Have always liked him just fine. Hat trick against Liverpool. 5 goals against Blackburn. Nothing says quality like numbers that won’t be repeated for decades.
@King Eric, Ya mate, you know you are swabbing out the bottom of the sh*tter when you need to count Adrian Durham as a supporter. Just sayin!
Seasonticketholder. I consider him both mate. He can run the show as seen in many games. The question of would I be singing his praises if he had only scored three is a pointless question. He hasn’t scored three he has scored fifteen. As I mentioned earlier his goalscoring record speaks volumes for any main or second striker. Summat like forty two in hundred and nine or ten games. Not to mention numerous assists. I have sang his praises from day one as people on here and the archives will back up. He is different class.
@EastStandManc
Allright mate sorry if you think I was comparing Cantona with Berbatov in any other way than the swagger and work rate. Of course all that isnt easily comparible. Berbatov is in a United squad that has far better balance, general ability and experience. Cantona plied his trade at a time when England came off a 5 year Europe ban, couldnt attract top european or wordly talent and wasnt the dominant force it is today. It is harder for a top player to make a name for himself in an inexperienced team than the opposite which is berbatovs possition. I was trying to compare the style of play as I think Scott was. There seems to be those that think and those that work, working too hard drowns the brain with blood and doesnt offer enough time to think. I was trying to compare Berbatov with Cantona as a thinking mans footballer (as it were) and Rooney Smith and Tevez as workhorses.
The same comparison could be made with players like Gerrard and Carrick, Gerrard is a headless chicken that shoots every time hes within 30 yards of goal and Carrick that seems to have that time to think of a better pass.
Hope you understand
Scott – “I compared Tevez and Smith because both ran around a lot and this made the fans like them. Tevez was running all over the fucking joint in his last season but scored 5 goals. Didn’t stop the vast majority of United fans being desperate to sign him. Comparison: ran around a lot, didn’t score a lot.”
If it’s as simple a distillation as that, surely we can say that Berba didn’t fare much better being first choice but only scoring 4 more goals. Tevez, like him or not, also had an uncanny knack for scoring crucial goals and you might even say his “headless chicken” routine exerted the kind of pressure on defenders that allowed others to score in his stead. As for Smith – I never rated him and I never liked or trusted him.
“I didn’t notice anybody comparing Berbatov with Cantona on anything other than “swagger” and “work rate”. Am I missing something? Did Cantona appear to be working any harder than Berb does? Did he do the Tevez/Smith headless chicken routine?”
Cantona swaggered because he could justify it beyond a few fancy flicks and tricks. He not only inspired us to our first title in 26 years but also dragged a team of kids to the title by the scruff of their necks. Could you honestly expect either from Berba, especially the latter?
Cantona’s workrate, while not of “headless chicken” proportions was still higher than Berbatov’s and considerably more effective.
“Finally, in Cantona’s best season at United, he scored just 4 goals more than Berbatov has done already. I dread to think how the anti-Berb bandwagon is going to react when Berb outscores Cantona.”
Brilliant, stats win the day again, I see. If Tim Howard has a better penalties-saved percentage than VdS, that must automatically make him the better ‘keeper, amirite?
Also, FTR, I’m not anti-Berb at all. As long as he dons a United shirt he’ll have my full support but I’m not willing to blindly praise someone in favour of overlooking some pretty big adverse knock-on effects to the team.
@ GoatinaUnitedShirt:
Sorry for the dickish statement mate. I’ve been having this ‘debate’ elsewhere today and I got a bit wound up. I understand what you mean and I addressed the point in my reply to Scott.
The apology goes to Scott, too. I’ve re-read the post and while I’m a sarcastic cunt at the best of times, that post takes the piss a little bit and should be reserved for non-Reds. Sorry mate.
am a berba fan and its great this season to see him perform that way
Does It Matter That He’s Lazy Now?
Put simply. No when United are winning. Yes when United are losing.
United have changed their style of play from the fast, counter attacking, fluidity of 4-3-3 with Tevez, Rooney, and Ronaldo. Times have moved on and United don’t have the players to play that style of football anymore. Particularly against the top teams.
Not a Berbatov fan myself. I’m glad that he is doing well at United though now. It’s a shame SAF opts to pack the midfield with a 4-5-1 against the better teams as I think Berba is suffering on the bench due to a weak midfield. Perhaps then we’d see more of him in the latter stages of the Champions League, and against Chelsea, and Arsenal.
Spot on!
Have had his name on my shirt since he signed, when he banged in 3 against the dippers, and will be proud to have it even after he retires.
If you don’t get Berbatov, you don’t get football…
“Times have moved on and United don’t have the players to play that style of football anymore.”
Sorry Alpha mate, disagree there. Yes, Ronaldo and Tevez have gone but Rooney remains, Nani’s stepped up and Valencia’s come in. There’s also Park who, while not quite a speed merchant like the other 3, has played pivotal roles in our most famous counter-attacking goals of the last 2 or 3 seasons.
We could definitely still do it if we wanted but we’d be back to square one with Berba, who SAF isn’t going to drop.
At the end of the day though, Smith was a sheepshagging bastard who had openly said he hated “man yoo”. We should never have taken him to our hearts in the first place!
East stand manc. Spot on mate except I may be wrong but didn’t you say in an earlier post we couldn’t play fast counter attacking football anymore or did you just mean with berba in the side? I said in response to that post that with nani rooney toni and park of course we can. Let’s not forget that superb goal against blackburn which was counter attack at best and it was both started and finished by berba. Thinhg is now we can mix it up especially with ando coming to the fore. Look at the sunderland game. The attackers were switching positions throughout. Or how about the counter at goodison.
If you look at the touch that Berba has , you just have to ,HAVE TO love him. He is more like an artist than a footballer , to me atleast
.
AlphaRS @ 23:16: “United have changed their style of play from the fast, counter attacking, fluidity of 4-3-3 with Tevez, Rooney, and Ronaldo. Times have moved on and United don’t have the players to play that style of football anymore.”
Well, OK. But the reality is somewhat more complicate than you allow for. Losing a player of CR7′s individual brilliance – and careless team play – was always going to create the conditions for changing the formula.
But that changed formula doesn’t mean an attack consisting of Nani, DimitarBerbatov, and WayneRooney would be terrible. That doesn’t mean that a midfield with Anderson, Fletcherinho, and Michael Carrick would be “clueless” or “gormless” or “uncreative”.
I’m a glass half-full kinda guy. The optimistic-me would say that it’s still too early to make a decision of the sort you’re putting forward. The half-full story-line would be that SAF always organizes his team/squad so that they evolve and peak in crunch-time (February onwards) when the matches are all important and come thick-and-fast. The optimistic-me would argue that getting that six-some mentioned in the previous paragraph ALL playing at their optimum level would prove you wrong in your negative assessment of their collective ability. But, of course, it’s too soon to tell. Be patient.
The pessimistic-me would counter by saying, “prove it”. And, again, it’s too soon to tell.
What’s not too soon to tell is the fact that Alexander Chapman Ferguson has done this before – and I think he will probably do it again. Unlike us, he’s in this for the long haul and his planning takes in the short-term/next match as well as the long-term evolution of his team
It’s a very, very superficual viewpoint to insist that SAF doesn’t know what he’s doing when he’s turned over the team – again – after the departure of the talismanic player of the treble years. He knew Ronaldo was going to go to TheVirus and he knew that he had to re-invent UTD again – judging by the results, his plan seems to be working. But, of course, it’s too soon to tell if it will actually work out as planned.
Oh, yeah, FIRST, best goal difference, games-in-hand. Not too shabby.
on of the best artilcles ever…..i was always annoyed by the comments madce by most of utd fans regarding berba…….the fact he didn’t even consider city might be enough………………so his class plus the goals he has been scoring should result in more chants from the stands regarding berba!!!!
I will start to love him if… he wins us the title!
this season is his and he needs to continue with his fantastic form and contribute… It’s about time berba
” I was trying to compare Berbatov with Cantona as a thinking mans footballer (as it were) and Rooney Smith and Tevez as workhorses.”
disagree, Rooney is not just a workhorse. he is clever and a really good passer of the ball.
Lovely post Scott.I too was a doubter of the languid Bulgarian.His silky touches are just exquisite to watch but what irked me what his goals tally.There is an expected goal tally at the end of season if u 30 million plus quid and it isn’t 12 goals.Strikers who were bought for an equivalent or a fee somewhere in the region of Berbatov’ s sign on (Villa,Ibra,Veri,Shevchenko) are expected to be banging goals,if you are not,you are off,ask Shevchenko.I adored Tevez & Smith (can’t believe I used “adore” 4 d Judas) because what they lacked in goal scoring they made up for with industry;is this a unfair comparison?I don’t think so.If Striker is not scoring,they can make up by improving other parts of their game i.e, assists e.t.c
December 29, 2010 at 16:26
GoatinaUnitedShirt says:
Really pleasant well-thought post but i just can’t agree with your Rooney assessment. Of course i understand it is just how you feel and we might be thinking differently but Rooney’s development was guided totally by Sir Alex. He was developing from the age of 18 as a striker then Ronaldo emerged as our top star and he was moved to the left to accommodate the talents of Cristiano. It isn’t his fault. During the last season he scored 35 goals and proved he can actually be a big goal scorer. His career evolved in a really complicated way but to state he is just a workhorse, i dunno. I think you undermine his qualities that were there to be seen during his spells in the last couple of games.
Imo
scott, late reading your post on berbatoff.
spot on, superb writing well done.
How the fuck can or could anyone “adore“ tevez and smith? They were ok. I liked them nothing more. Corea. Morning mate. I really think in due course and we are seeing it now rooney dropping back into midfield. Would be perfect.
Its bloody strange ya know. Ya only see one or two on here admitting they were abusive to berba last two seasons. Well when I get a few spare hours I am gonna pull up the away draw at blackburn post last season as well as others and out the hypocrites that are fucking lying. Best one I remember is bretty boy , who was a decvent poster, but came out with the classic after berbs ripped fulham apart that was only cos chris baird was a fucking heavy smoker. Priceless. Baird didn’t do to bad for a smoker last night did he.
I LUVD DIS POST…………
I WAS ALWAYS DER FOR BERBA EVEN IN HIS BAD TIMES …
Napstar. Have you seen berbatovs assists since0 he came to united mate? Highest in league I believe last season or one before. Once again his goal scoring record stands up with anyone forty two in hundred and nine or ten games. God I am repetetive but folk need to look at his goal record.
Another annoyance is this notion that we pack the midfield as its weak. Rubbish. Its because mosyt teams now set up with a three man midfield so a two man midfield is bound to get over run. On form fletch carrick and anderson can dominate any midfield.
December 29, 2010 at 18:07
Scott the Red says:
EastStandManc – I compared Tevez and Smith because both ran around a lot and this made the fans like them. Tevez was running all over the fucking joint in his last season but scored 5 goals. Didn’t stop the vast majority of United fans being desperate to sign him. Comparison: ran around a lot, didn’t score a lot.
Hallefuckinulah, esp Smith, It worries me that he became a fans hero because he ran around a bit, snarled a bit but not much else as for him sacrficing the love of his home town fans thats his affair, we fucking paid him well didn’t we? And I will give him full credit for coming from his horrific injury but that never made him a UTD player sorry.
As for Berba he has been a frustrating fucker but if he is instrumental in winning the 19th he will be a legend (as well as his hat trick against the dippers) and that legendary status is something the fat scouser will never attain.
never had any problem with berba, technically he is one of the best in the world, only thing lacking was consistency, now he is starting to show it, hopefully he’ll continue till the end of the season, his first touch surely has to be the best in football? or am i exaggerating?
Lads,
I never had a problem with Berbatovs effort, he was like that when we bought him! Why expect him to change.
However till now he lacked Clinical Finishing. he wasted so many chances where he duffed! I think that was due to confidence!
!
I expect we will see a big season from him this year and thank god as Rooney has went missing.
I don’t think Rooney can appreciate how big an error he has made with what he has done with his comments. Before he was god and it didn’t matter if he didn’t play well, fans sort of ignored it cause it was Rooney!
King Eric :I have always liked Berba but I felt he needed to improve on his goal scoring,United paid 30 million for goals not assists
great post scott..this should be filed under ‘RoM’s best Articles’…
Fantastic article read it whilst listening to the braveheart soundtrack
King Eric – How do mate?
No, I’ve never said we can’t counter anymore OR that we can’t do it with Berba, just that we choose not to in favour of a style that will make the most use of Berba in his preferred position. I can see Berba as an initiator of counters (picking the first killer pass) but not an active participant in the end product.
The goal you mention is a good example of why counters won’t work in the current setup (but how they could). True, he started it but Nani held on and held on so long that in the end the defender (Chimbonda, I think it was) almost blocked the cross and Blackburn’s back four were already behind the ball by the time Berba had arrived to finish. To me that’s not a counter-attack at all.
Now, had Nani burst on after Berba’s raking pass and squared quickly for someone in the centre to finish, before the Blackburn defence had any chance to get back (much less organise themselves) then you could argue it was a good example of football on the counter.
well if I was going to compare rooney and berbatov and how they have done this season.
berbatov unstoppable at home, not so good away from home. Why is that, the unbalanced midfield or a midfield 5 that does not suit berbatov reason why he struggles in away games
rooney he needs to sort his performences out in general, because his overall game is very pridictable and at times he does not even look like scoring
napstar @ 11:45: “:I have always liked Berba but I felt he needed to improve on his goal scoring,United paid 30 million for goals not assists”
I’d tend to agree with King Eric about this – DimitarBerbatov was purchased in the summer of 2008 when it was clear to SAF that CR7 was only staying for one more year. Knowing this, Fergy had to make long-range plans for another reconstruction of UTD. The “problem” with the purchase has been that for most of the time at UTD, DimitarBerbatov was not played centrally AND forward; now he is being used in that way and the goals are flowing – the assists would continue IF WayneRooney’s SatNav was working. What we can see now – with a front three of Nani/Dimmy/Rooney (backed by an attacking midfielder like Anderson) is something that SAF had projected when he had to switch away from the Rooney/Ronaldo/Tevez “whirligig” that brought so much success in 2006/2007/2008/ and 2009.
And, last year, even allowing for a horrendous injury crisis in defence. TheLads came second by one point – or, in my view, as a result of diabolical refereeing in the two matches against the RentBoyz. But, be that as it may have been, last year SAF had not twigged to the idea of putting Dimmy central AND forward; and, in point of fact, it was only the RooneyGate of October/2010 that cemented this revision to the team’s attacking formation. It was, you might say, an invention borne of necessity.
As I’ve written, I’ve been a BerbaSceptic because for two years the guy wasn’t being used properly – what’s the point of those exquisite skills if they’re being used to escape three defenders in the midfield circle ? Now that he’s being stationed in the danger area – in the opposition’s penalty box, centrally AND forward – I’m just thrilled to see him on the ptich.
I’m also thrilled to see that this year’s “team” is “Dimmy’s team” even though I know that the reason for UTD successes (and failures) so far this year are mostly due to the re-emergence of that crucial defensive triangle of Edwin, Rio and Vidic. Those three provide a kind of double-platform – enabling someone like Michael Carrick to excel as what he does best (shielding them) and providing insurance for Rafael and Patrice Evra go play a buccaneering style of wide attacking play which “frees’” the wingers (Nani and ? WayneRooney ?) to be deployed more like inside forwards while Anderson has been liberated to play as an attacking midfielder In effect, it’s a back-to-the-future scenario in which the interchangeable play of Nani/WayneRooney can pivot around a stable forward playing centrally. This back-to-the-future scenario is only in its infancy – it’s going to be better and better and better in the second half of the season. (or so i hope !)
I have been critical of Berbatov. He has started to track back better lately and we saw this in the game against Birmingham. He is also scoring more and has started a somewhat consistent run.
The main problem is the midfield and the lack of service they provide our strikers. With Valencia, Nani and Scholes out, there are no people who can service our strikers. Right now it doesnt matter who plays striker at United.
I pray and hope that Ferguson does something about this in January and I hope Diarra isnt for real. We don’t need another holding/tackling mid fielder sitting deep, we need a passing midfielder with good vision and another winger.
I can see Dimi on a hover board.
Did we pay 30 million for his goals alone, though? It wasn’t like he was prolific at Spurs. There’s so much much more to his game, than just goals.
napster … I guess what SAF paid 30m for was someone who would help us win games, period. Yes, it’s great seeing Berba bang the goals in this year, but prior to joining us, he had played in the PL for only two years and had scored 12 and 15 goals respectively, an average of 13.5 (and according to you, 12 isn’t enough).
While SAF might have expected his average to rise with us, given that he’s surrounded by better players and would therefore get more opportunity, I doubt that he would have gambled 30m that merely switching teams would turn a 13.5-a-year striker into a 25-goal superstar. Conversely, nor would he have paid 30m had he expected Berbatov to remain a solid 13.5-goals-a-year striker.
Yet, if SAF was looking purely at Berba’s goal-scoring abilities, those are the only two expectations he could have had: that Berba would continue to score at a solid 12-14 goal average, or that he would suddenly become much better. Neither makes sense to me, not for 30m. SAF was pretty dogged in his pursuit of Berbatov, and it had be for some other, additional reason — namely, berbatov’s ability to help the team overall, not only with goals, but with assists, his ability hold the ball up in the ‘hot zone’, and his ability to pull something totally unpredictable out of the bag.
And if you ask me, he got what he paid for, and has been getting it for the last two years, and the goals this year are merely the icing on the cake (bloody welcome, though).
Scott was quick to discount Tevez’s goals in other competitions that year I see. Maybe because his goals per game ratio looked a lot better all of a sudden? Like Tevez or not I am quite annoyed how dismissive people are of his affect on our side back then.
Berbatov has played really well this season and has got a lot of the doubters on his side now. I criticised him and many others did, but I never thought it was over the top. It was mainly confined to blogs and between fans rather than in the stands and him getting stick at games, apart from the Blackburn game last year. I have no doubt in my mind that Berbatov is on course for United’s player of the season and he will fully deserve it if he can continue his great form and help push United to a historic 19th title.
Anyway this argument is dead and buried. We’ve all moved on. Let’s just concentrate on United’s push for the title and laughing at Liverpool at the same time and kicking them while they’re down in the 3rd round of the cup. Come on United!
@vILHELM28 … “The main problem is the midfield and the lack of service they provide our strikers. With Valencia, Nani and Scholes out, there are no people who can service our strikers … I pray and hope that Ferguson does something about this in January …” OK, but whover he gets would have to be someone who doesn’t expect a regular starting position when those guys ARE available, wouldn’t it? Or, someone good enough to force one of those guys onto the bench. What I’m trying to say is that when we have injuries (and whatever), fans often bemoan our “lack of depth”, and they wonder why we don’t have enough top players in reserve … but in reality, you can’t keep that many top players in reserve — because top players expect to be first choice, and if they’re not, they soon bugger off somewhere else. So, by definition, our back-up players are always going to be a step down, and when you have a crisis, it hurts (that’s why it’s a crisis, I guess). Everyone knows what happened last year, with our defensive woes. Despite it all, we only lost the title by 1 lousy point (yet still people slag off the likes of O’Shea and Carrick and the others who stepped up to the plate in extremely difficult circumstances and for the most part did us and themselves proud).
viHELM28 @ 15:02: “The main problem is the midfield and the lack of service they provide our strikers”
This is just not true – who provided the ball to Berbatov when he scored five against Blackburn ? I recall lots of opportunities in the match against TheArse ? And again in the Sunderland match ?Who provided the balls that weren’t driven home the other night against Birmingham ?
The “main problem” is that the strikers don’t score on every opportunity. BUT, in the real world, only a pinball wizard can do that. What about the very relevant fact that UTD are leading the EPL in goal-scoring – do you think that the strikers can do that alone ? Park has scored five/six; nani has scored five/six – don’t these goals count ? Even Anderson has one goal so far this season ? what about Scholes ? Fletcherinho ? Have these guys not scored/assisted ?
If there’s a “big problem” then it’s the very obvious – and oft-repeated – fact that WayneRooney has scored on the field of play since March. He’s been close but, so far, no cigar. And, he’s been playing as much as a “midfielder” as a “striker” in his recent matches.
It’s a team game and the shape of the team is constantly changing. Get used to it. Let you expectations evolve along with the changing style of play.
Why are you looking for “problems” when UTD are FIRST with games in hand, unbeaten in the EPL, tops in goals scored, and tops in goal difference, If this is symptomatic of a “problem” then I’d hate to hear your views on a “crisis”.
Bit off-topic possibly, but to me Berbatov doesn’t compare easily to other footballers (although I like what people have said about Cruyff). In my eyes, he’s more like a David Gower or even Michael Johnson/Edwin Moses – a well-oiled machine, artistic and effortless, when things are ‘working’.
Who else, outside football, would you compare him with?
Davey – Who’s looking for problems? Sometimes we can benefit from taking the rose-tinted specatcles off from time-to-time.
7 out 8 away games drawn and winning all too often unconvincingly at home are not signals that all is well, IMHO. We’ve benefitted from a catastrophic loss of form / set of results over the last 6-8 weeks from the Rentboys but I’m sure it won’t be long before they’re back in the hunt.
I’m not saying I’m not happy with where we are in the table but I *am* convinced we can do more to ensure we’re not dislodged.
Wonderfully said. Does it matter? To some it seems it does. Thank goodness SAF has more brain than the average supporter
Excellent Post!!! thank you for sharing….Dimi 9 Rocks…
just to say though, we dont need any more wingers. we have too much wingers already.
EastStandManc @ 17:44: I wasnt saying things are perfect – and the number of points that have been frittered away is unfortunate – BUT the table doesn’t lie. FIRST with games in hand, tops in goals scored, tops in goal difference.
My specs aren’t rose-tinted but I do get irriated when people expect perfection, which only happens when the stars are in alignment – the match against Roma, three weeks ago against Blackburn, and the first twenty minutes against Sunderland were as close to perfection as we’ll get to see. Most of the time, TheLads are simply just better – and that’s not being arrogant.
Like almost every team SAF has managed, this one is a work-in-progress. And he’s smart enough to know that when it peaks then it’s time to begin to think about another transition to avoid the parlous condition of the RentBoyz who have too many old players, not enough middle-aged players, and almost no young players that have the manager’s confidence. Now, THAT’S a real problem.
For fuck sake!! Tevez was fucking shite, he was blinded by money and is a little fucking moaning twat!! The first time I’ve had a chance to pop on ROM for fucking ages and people are still talking up how good Tevez was!! Fuck off, he’s even shown what a cunt he is with Shitty but still people love the little fucker!! I’ve not always praised Berba but I’ve never put him down like some did as a useless fucker, he makes Tevez look like a fucking dog chasing a stick!! People seem to think coz the little Argie cunt scores for Shitty that we let some megastar leave, he did fuck all except run around, oh and score the odd important goal and I say odd coz he wasn’t fucking prolific was he!! His passing was shite and he had the touch of a fucking rapist!! Get the fuck over him!!
Right rant over, a big hello to the regulars, willie, king eric, costas, FITB, Denton, Giles and anyone I’ve forgot to mention!! And of course Scott, happy belated Christmas and if I don’t get chance happy new year people!!
I’ve been a supporter of Berba for a while and never really bought into the lazy criticism. Still, you can’t help but notice the extra effort Berba’s putting into his game. That doesn’t mean he’s changed it so he runs around tirelessly a la Tevez. Instead he’s putting a greater effort into playing the game his way. He used to be more quick to criticise another teammate for not putting the ball where he thought it should be or he’d lose a ball after several challenges and not try to get it back. Now I see Berba concentrating more on shielding the ball and, while he’s doing so, he’s also orchestrating by pointing out open players or runs to make. The effort has certainly increased, but not in the way some were saying he was lacking. He’s making his form of footy come off now, and it’s because he’s trying to get everyone on the same wavelength.
This is one of the most well-thought, researched and articulate article ever….this is my first post on republik (after having religiously read the blog for years) and I feel forced to commend this piece…hats off Scott!
i have been telling my son that this guy is class from the day we signed him.my son wanted results from the start,i told him to be patient,now i look like fergie in his eyes lol.
Gee – Ok mate? Like you, I’ve been critical of Berbatov in the past, but I can’t understand why some of our fans would want him back, each to his own, I guess.
*Tevez*
legends are made of 1 thing and 1 thing only. They deliver when it matters, in the biggest of games, CL final, away from home, your biggest rivals, must-win-games etc. I love berba’s passion and commitment to the club, but some things are just not meant to be.
Dimitar is not aiming for ‘legend’, although at this rate he just might get there.
Anyway, Roy Keane’s performance in the SEMI of the CL 1999 is legendary, not
“the biggest of games, CL final.”
Or Ryan vs Arsenal in the SEMI of the FA Cup. That goal alone (considered by many to be the best ever) would elevate one to ‘legend’
STR, do you use Berbatov posters as actual wallpaper and have 200 of his pictures as a rotating desktop wallpaper? Or even a statuette in an altar where you offer prayers? ;p
Just kidding, hope it doesn’t offend your religious opinion.
But then again, we all worship United, so no clash there. Although by right, the one on the altar should be SAF.
Tevez was always a just part of the team, never a team-lifter. But he could do it at City. Shows just how weak that team is if he could lift them by himself.
Rather see Smith in a United shirt over Tevez anytime.
last season for Rooneys great form all he got was a carling cup winners medal…
this season for Berbs great form all he will be getting is a premier league winners medal + uniteds 19th league title… but who cares about that even if the guy scored 5 in one,and a hat-trick against the dippers because at the end of the day i contributed more to the teams work rate than that lazy twat did
You know what I hate about the naive berbahaters, it is that they don’t understand that he was played in a position that did not suit his style. I would say this, more than anything else, contributed to his low goals ratio in his first two seasons. And what proves us Berba fans corrects is that Sir Alex accepted as much at the beginning of the season when he said the same thing. So, if Berbahaters say that they think he did not get enough goals to prove himself worth as 30 mil pounds, just remember that before you spit anything out.
Also, Berbatov being worth 30 mil pounds was not his fucking fault. He did not want to be the most expensive Man Utd player. He JUST wanted to be an UNITED player. And yes I will all cap it because that is one more thing Berbahaters just need to get into their head before they scream something from the top of their lungs.
I have been a stanch Berbafan since we wanted to sign him. The only time he frustrated me was when he was himself frustrated and started shouting at everyone else. But Roy Keane did that, Cantona did that, RVN did that – so who the fuck am I to talk about it right? Overall, this post felt vindicating to me. Thanks Scott for that amazing post.
Also thanks to timbo for that amazing comment.
I think there are much less Berbahaters now because they’ve seen what he can do, vs what Tevez has done, and what Rooney “appeared” to have done (which we won’t know the real truth so soon). Hopefully, this is a lesson of humility for them. And I hope they lay off Bebe because they all seem to believe that Bebe cost us 7+mil in cold hard cash.
They can recite big name players hyped about by the press and their agents (and still stupidly believe them) but unless they fought their club to join us like Berbs did, they’ll never be the same.
The one ex-United player whom I really have respect for is Ronaldo – he wanted RM but he gave everything for the club while he was still donning our jersey.
I just hope Hargreaves offers to play for the club on a truly appearance-based contract for at least a year. But that’s another topic altogether.
smartalex says:
Dimitar is not aiming for ‘legend’, although at this rate he just might get there.
Anyway, Roy Keane’s performance in the SEMI of the CL 1999 is legendary, not
“the biggest of games, CL final.”
December 31, 2010 at 0:06
smartalex says:
Or Ryan vs Arsenal in the SEMI of the FA Cup. That goal alone (considered by many to be the best ever) would elevate one to ‘legend’
After reading Maters comments I was happy t see what you had wrote Alex, its Maters brand of logic that makes me despair, you could also quote the home game against Sheff Weds 92/93 season at which Bruce headed two goals to win us the game, not a final nor even a semi final just a regular old league game, I wonder if Mater remembers its signifcance. Not that it matters whether Mater gets it or not but thanks to Alex for pointing out that its not always finals that produce legends and further thanks to him for showing an example of how some of our fans just haven’t a clue.
supalike
mattbw7
Too true, Bruce’s 2 goals are possibly the best example.
I accept and like that everyone is different. I don’t accept or like shallow supporters pretending to have a deep love for all that is United whilst revealing what fickle fuckers they are.
ha ha…oh my goddd!! Help me please…! Mr smartalex and Mr mattbw7… I did not meant CL FINALS per se..oh man..we’re all not from toxteth or salford. I meant any game with high significance!! Did u not see the ‘..etc..’. Duhh! Of course brucey’s 2 headers vs shef wed, keano’s (and scholesy !!) vs juve 99, were stuff of legends, cos there’re decisive! Big games. Just like robins equaliser vs palace fa cup final. Just like Jimmy Glass last minute for Carlisle 99!! Was that CL final??! it’s a cliche, but its true, big games, big names need to perform. Otherwise, go join the far queue…
@Balaji Sivaraman …you raise a good point, that Berbatov didn’t have any hand in setting his own transfer fee. That was set by Spurs, and SAF willingly paid it. It’s not the first time that point has been raised, but it is something the detractors never seem able to get through their thick heads.