Berbatov has been a huge success : Sir Alex

Merman

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...ig-hit-us.html

Kaka83

What else is he going to say? 'We haven't improved offensively this season and Berbatov is no where near as good as I thought he'd be'

Fergie also told a room full of journalist to fuck off after they questioned Veron. He then went and sold him to Chelski a year later.

The fact that he has to keep defending Berbatov is a sign that most, not just United fans aren't convinced.

Tumbling-Dice

I'd swear Fergie has a man who keeps one eye on the caf.

When will berbatov start playing as a 30 million pounds player?

cina

He paid 30.75m for him, of course he's going to defend him. It means nothing.

Merman

Plus, I think he’s got 14 or 15 goals this season and he’s made about 14 or 15 goals – there’s a Cantona link to that. That was the sort of area that Eric always operated in: making and scoring the equal number of goals.

sammsky1

errr .... this season we are still in with a chance of winning every tournament that we have entered .... which is better than last years ..... the difference, we have Berbatov in our squad ....

He has clearly made an impact!!!! Next season, we will see his true worth

kps88

Yawn.

cina

You make a lot of daft posts. If you think that's the reason we're in such a good position, you're clueless.

marcosdeto

so i start a thread raising questions about berbatovs value and fergie goes and backs him up

interesting ...

mjs020294

Its too early to judge if Berb is a success or not. Sometimes players take a year to settle in and his first seasons contributions have not been too shabby.

Kaka83

Yeah, but not many of us cared what stats Cantona put up. He's influence was unquestionable whether he scored 4 or 40. Berbatov could leave this summer and none of us would miss him all that much.

That would be despite Berbatov rather than because of him, wouldn't you say? I mean he had no impact in the Carling cup, and outside of Celtic and the mighty Aalborg, he's made zero impression in the CL.

He might come good next season, but I doubt it. He'll only come good if he changes the way he plays because I have yet to see any evidence that he'll improve. He's hardly dominated games and really is no threat in terms of goals.

Москва2008

It was important to make a statement of ambition after Moscow (buying Berbatov and not selling Ronaldo).

I think Fergie wanted to avoid a repeat of the way the 1999 side rested on their laurels and gradually stagnated (to Roy Keane's annoyance).

It took years before people stopped talking about Rio Ferdinand's price tag. Likewise I think fans will start to appreciate Berbatov over time.

Nistelrooy10

Those quotes are from last week from the CNN interview, Daily Mail stole them.

cina

I've said it before, I don't care about the price tag, that's just the way it is nowadays with City and co. having such vast amounts of money. My problem is that he hasn't shown his form from Spurs, and to add to that, he's brought his laziness factor along with him.

Anyway, there's enough threads about that shit, but its ridiculous to take what SAF said realistically, like someone else said, he's hardly going to say he's been shit, is he?

sammsky1

Don't agree.

We have also had to cope with a long injury as well as a dramatic decline in form vs 2006 - 8 from Ronaldo and Tevez losing the plot for 1/2 the season.

Look, last year we all clamoured for a new striker, we needed cover. So SAF goes out and buys the best that money can buy (Only benzema and Torres IMHO would be acceptable alternatives). All players need at least 1/2 season to settle at Manchester United.

Given all of that and esp as important a role as CF; I'm more than happy with Berbatov contribution this season. And I know that he will get just better and better. SAF is spot on as he always is.

Ekeke

Hmm

R.Nilsson7

Sell him, he's useless. Buy Paul Dickov, at least he's got agressive work rate and gets shots at goal.

Nistelrooy10

It would be nice if you could find the pre-season comments he made on Seba, only a couple of days before he sold him

I think Berbatov will be given one more season to prove himself, then he'll be off for 10 million to Spurs or Italy.

Tumbling-Dice

This is how I feel about him too.

Thanks for clearing that up.

lesclaypool

Well said. Some people are just not open to that possibility though unfortunately.

Ekeke

Also, he doesnt actually say he's been a huge success. Or a success. Dipperstripper has just scrapped the title that the daily mail have given it (United boss Fergie hits back at Berbatov's critics: Dimitar has been a big hit for us - which Ferguson doesnt say either) and has given it his own title for some reason.

Kaka83

So you're saying we've had a dramatic loss of form this season, but Berbatov has been the reason behind us competing on all fronts? Riiight. I say we are scoring less than we have done the last two seasons (remember '06 when Tevez wasn't around and Ronnie scored 'just' 23 goals?) because we've had Berbatov as our main attacker and he's failed to add anything that shows significant improvement. It's as strong a claim as the one your making anyway.

Mate, we didn't need the 'best that money can buy'...we just needed a pacy striker with finishing ability and reasonable work rate. Btw, not all players need 1/2 a season to settle...Ruud, Yorke, Solskjaer all settled immediately. And two of those came from abroad from inferior leagues.

I don't know how he will get 'better and better' as he's 28 now and significantly worse than he was at Tottenham. Once again, did you think Fergie was spot on (as he always is ) with Veron? How about Forlan? Or Blanc?

giggs-beckham

I immediately thought of the ''seba has been fantastic'' quote when i saw the thread title.

Both players are very talented veron more though and both are lazy, end of.

cina

Good points.

Raven_Blade

Berbatov has had an impact for us this season. He has clearly made a contribution in terms of his influence in front of goal. But its not been as big of an impact as we had all hoped. He has all the talent he needs to become a great player at our club. We do expect more from him but dont let the price tag go to your heads. At the end of the day its only a monetary value that was agreed through our negotiations with Spurs. Nobody should be reminded of how much they cost at every possible opportunity. Playing for Manchester United is pressure enough.

Should we give up on him after a matter of months? No.

Should we have some more patience and hope he will get better as time goes on? Yes.

Raven_Blade

You can always improve as a player no matter what your age is. But the type of improvement we should be hoping for is how he finds his place in our team. We have struggled to adapt to his play in some games and it takes time for a new player to understand their team mates perfectly. In this aspect Berbatov can show his talent. His footballing ability is deceptive and his brain operates quicker than most players. We just have to ensure that our team are on his wavelength.

giggs-beckham

Use the tevez money to buy a good up top fortward and develop macheda then well have 2 out and out strikers and 2 support strikers (berba/rooney)

giggs-beckham

So we (prem champ, euro champs, world champs) have to change the way we play to accomodate berbatov?
At times he slows us down, if he doesnt improve on his agression and workrate he wont last here.

Joker

Berba hasn't been a flop, but he hasn't been the success I expected him to be, I say give him a full pre-season with us and we'll see how good he'll be next season.

mjs020294

That is a good point.

Kaka83

How exactly? Rooney is scoring less, Tevez is scoring less, Ronnie is scoring less, and most importantly...Berbatov is scoring less in a better team surrounded by better players than he did in a worse team surrounded by worse players. Big fish small pond syndrome methinks.

Of course we give him time, but please point out one performance (by that I mean a WHOLE 90min) where he really was head and shoulders above everybody else.

REd FUn DevIl

I understand people frustrated with berbs.

Everyone was expecting a net destroyer for that kind of money but he hardly did it at Spurs, his average goals were 20 in all competitions in an entire season.
Add to that he is currently adapting to a new system where we play much faster that Spurs and he hasnt had the time to stablish a partnership with Rooney due to injuries and different formations.

He hasnt been a hit imo but not a flop either, in fact he has been good assisting here and there and getting some goals sometimes.

Let's see how he does until the end of the season.

relx

Andy Johnson?

Successful

Berbatov got in at a late stage of the season. Took some time before he was ready to step in. Then he's had a season with injuries and shit. I reckon this season is not exactly optimal setup to make a £30.75 performance. Let's not concentrate to much on Berbatovs form. Just be happy if we can make it to bay and then regain powers for next season concerning berbs. At the moment Macheda is the only one with some self confidence. The boy is absolutely gloving.

Kaka83

Sorry but that ridiculous.

He has to ensure that he's on OUR wavelength. The team functioned incredibly well before him. Without his so called quick brain we managed to outscore all before us last season, so I fail to see what this quick brain (which I might add has accomplished zilch throughout it's existence) adds. I mean it's not like the rest of the squad have the brain of turtles!

Liverpool have bloody outscored us without Torres for most of the season. Berbatov has hardly kept us to the standard of a Torres-free L'Pool side.

lesclaypool

It seems you are attempting to add 2 and 2 together and miserably failing to get the right total.

For some reason you're deciding to blame Berbatov for Tevez's disappointing form rather than blaming Tevez himself and likewise for Ronaldo. Rooney has been one of our better players this season performance wise and he's been out injured for a spell. How on earth is it Berbatov's fault that Ronaldo is more concerned with moaning about breaking his toenails than trying to be more helpful for the team? How is it Berbatov's fault that sometimes Tevez's first touch is about as good of that of Kuyt's? His mere presence has unsettled everyone and has created a sense of pandemonium? Give me a fucking break. The people responsible for disappointing performances are the players that have been disappointing themselves. Fair enough he may not have performed as consistently well as he did at Spurs but give it some time. Writing him off is idiotic when he's not even been here for a season.

Kaka83

Not what I had in mind but good shout.

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber

Anyone who takes a look at this:

Manchester United EPL Attacker stats:

Tackles won this season:

Dimitar Berbatov 21
Cristiano Ronaldo 10
Carlos Tevez 9
Wayne Rooney 8

Foul won:

Cristiano Ronaldo 69
Dimitar Berbatov 46
Carlos Tevez 25
Wayne Rooney 14

Fouls conceded:

Dimitar Berbatov 32
Cristiano Ronaldo 24
Carlos Tevez 24
Wayne Rooney 23

Chances created:

Wayne Rooney 52
Dimitar Berbatov 50
Cristiano Ronaldo 42
Carlos Tevez 27

Successful passes:

Wayne Rooney 52
Dimitar Berbatov 50
Cristiano Ronaldo 42
Carlos Tevez 27

Total Passes:

Dimitar Berbatov 1072
Cristiano Ronaldo 1041
Wayne Rooney 825
Carlos Tevez 693

Assists:
Dimitar Berbatov 8
Cristiano Ronaldo 5
Wayne Rooney 5
Carlos Tevez 2

Goals:

Cristiano Ronaldo 15
Wayne Rooney 9
Dimitar Berbatov 8
Carlos Tevez 3


Shots On Target:

Cristiano Ronaldo 47
Wayne Rooney 31
Dimitar Berbatov 21
Carlos Tevez 17

Total Shots:

Cristiano Ronaldo 87
Wayne Rooney 68
Dimitar Berbatov 40
Carlos Tevez 39


And claims Berbatov adds nothing to our team and attack is a fucking idiot.

That is all.

nyrfan818

'You know it’s interesting – maybe what they’re saying is he’s not sprinting full out 40 yards all the time all over the place in the way, say, Wayne Rooney does or Carlos Tevez does but he’s doing the yardage other players don’t get to.

How lazy.

Ekeke

Correct. But its hard to play 33 games and not have an effect on a team. The question is whether what little he's added to our game is worth what its taken away from our game of last season.

You'll say yes. Many will say no.