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Berbatov. Berbaflop?
Published by Ian John on January 4, 2010
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Manchester United’s FA Cup defeat to Leeds United has highlighted several issues at Old Trafford. There is a growing belief that the current crop of fringe stars at United are, arguably, not of the standard the club needs to rely on them to sustain a challenge for the top honours in the game. Three defeats in key games at Burnley, at home to Besiktas and now in the FA Cup against Leeds have highlighted several shortcomings when Sir Alex Ferguson attempts to pick a strong ‘reserve’ side to ‘do a job’ against a perceived lesser light in the game.
In addition to that, there has been great debate amongst pundits and Manchester United fans as to whether the club really needs to bring in either a creative, pacy midfielder or a freescoring striker. While the club is at pains to point out that they are not missing Cristiano Ronaldo, there can be little doubt that had the Portuguese star played for United at the weekend, he would have done more to at least open up a stubborn Leeds rearguard, or at least taken one of the several chances United wastefully spurned in the game. Other fans have cited a need for a creative midfielder to open up defences with a clever pass or cross. Indeed this morning the Red Devils have been linked with a £20m move for FC Porto star Hulk.
However what is becoming evident to a great many, is that the Manchester United support are quickly losing faith in their £30m striker, Dimitar Berbatov.
The Bulgarian polarises fans. There are those who can see the Cantona-like skills he possesses, his sublime first touch and vision, his craft in and around the box and his ability to score goals at times with effortless ease. At his best the game looks a trivial matter to him as he is so talented. Unfortunately this is allied with a gait that looks perpetually surly, a perceived lack of effort and pace for the United cause, games where the player goes missing or does little (especially when compared to the likes of Wayne Rooney for example) and a lack of goalscoring form which for a £30m striker, is embarrassing.
A fan board I was on was laying into Berbatov. “Fergie needs to end his love affair with the Bulgarian and replace him” stated one, another said Berbatov was “not fit to wear the shirt” and a “£30m flop”. This sentiments are echoed voluably from one messageboard to the next up and down the country.
Sir Alex Ferguson talked at the weekend about how Rooney and Berbatov were developing an understanding in the same way Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke had done in the past. However following the Leeds debacle, one wonders if this is simply a justification of the £30m spent on a player who has done little to convince many of the Old Trafford faithful that he is worth a fraction of that outlay. Performances like the tame, anonymous effort against Leeds being the cause of so much of that ire.
So is Berbatov a Berbaflop? Currently, the jury is still out. The Bulgarian possesses as much innate ability as anyone in the Manchester United squad and in the right team, he could well be the difference between winning major silverware and not. However one of two things needs to happen, Berbatov needs to find form and a little more effort and the United support needs to realise the kind of player Berbatov is and accept him warts and all.
Sadly for both player and supporters, neither of those things looks likely to happen any time soon.
Image Courtesy of ***Jennifer Kieran*** at Flickr.com
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