Berbatov's Appreciation Thread

devilish

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Go look at how many games he played in those years before disrespecting him. I can grant underwhelming because of how great we were and our standards at the time but in no way was Berbatov a flop.
who cares about how many games he played? Phil Neville won more then him and played more then he did. That doesn't make him a fantastic player but just a player who was lucky enough to be at the right club the right moment. With the difference that Phil costed us nothing and he actually bothered doing things like running and tackling (the latter he did far more then he should have done)
 

Witchking

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as said I am curious in understanding the fascination towards this flop. As someone suggested he is really United's answer to Ozil.
He was a good player for United. Just came in at the wrong time. Gave his all for the club, didn't kick up a fuss against fergie when he was dropped. He is a bit like forlan when he was at United. Great player, just at the wrong time at the club. We are allowed to appreciate him. Ozil comparisons or not.
 

Desert Eagle

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who cares about how many games he played? Phil Neville won more then him and played more then he did. That doesn't make him a fantastic player but just a player who was lucky enough to be at the right club the right moment. With the difference that Phil costed us nothing and he actually bothered doing things like running and tackling (the latter he did far more then he should have done)
Qualify your statement that he is a flop. So far all you have said is he's not a fantastic player.
 

devilish

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He was a good player for United. Just came in at the wrong time. Gave his all for the club, didn't kick up a fuss against fergie when he was dropped. He is a bit like forlan when he was at United. Great player, just at the wrong time at the club. We are allowed to appreciate him. Ozil comparisons or not.
I find him as frustrating as Pogba TBH.. Both had all the talent in the world to become legends at the club and yet they lacked that attitude to make it happen. Which is why I am genuinely curious why people appreciate him. I actually met Pogba and spoke with him for nearly an hour (thus I do have bias towards him) but even I fail to see how one can write an appreciation thread about him. Same thing about Berba.

That doesn't mean that I hate the person (which I don't). Ironically the two United players that I don't like the most (not hate) are Owen and Blanc
 
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devilish

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Qualify your statement that he is a flop. So far all you have said is he's not a fantastic player.
In my opinion a flop is a player who is one (or more)

a- doesn't live his price tag
b- the team is worse with him then without him.

Berbatov adds another layer of frustration because he clearly had the talent to be a far better player then he showed with us but lacked the attitude to do so. I mean I am not Phil Nev or Nicky Butt no 1 fan but even I acknowledge that they gave their 100% for us and had reached the limit of their talent with us. I like to call that extra layer of frustration as the Pogba effect.
 

Uniquim

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Agree with this, that front 3 was special to watch I was desperate for us to sign Tevez. Gutted he went to City
Why didn't Fergie get a deal in place for when his loan was up,cannot understand the hesitation especially with Ronaldo leaving
tevez was offered a deal I’m pretty sure. he rejected it
Did he though? Fergie’s reluctance to sign Tevez permanently was apparent long before any mention of Berbatov surfaced.

Various reasons have come up over the years: not wanting to deal with Tevez’s dodgy representatives; Tevez being an unprofessional twat off the field.

I agree that signing Berba wasn’t a great move, but I haven’t seen any evidence that he undermined Fergie’s desire to retain Tevez.
Ferguson wrote about it in his biography:

SAF said:
In general said:
The tale begins when Tévez was at West Ham and David Gill was receiving calls from his agent, Kia Joorabchian, saying the boy would love to play for Man United. We had heard that kind of story many times. It was almost routine for agents to call saying their client had a special feeling for our crest. My advice was that we should not involve ourselves in any complicated dealings with the Tévez camp. David agreed. It was clear that a consortium of people owned the player. But, to David, I also remarked: ‘He does make an impact in games with his energy and he has a decent scoring record. It would depend what the deal was.’

David told me he could acquire Tévez on loan for two years, for a fee. That was the way it turned out and Carlos did well for us in his first season. He scored a lot of important goals, against Lyon, Blackburn, Tottenham and Chelsea. There was a real enthusiasm and energy about him. He wasn’t blessed with great pace and wasn’t a great trainer. He would always like a wee break, saying his calf was sore. In the context of the way we prepared, that sometimes annoyed us. We wanted to see a genuine desire to train all the time. Top players have that. But Tévez compensated quite well with his enthusiasm in games.
Doubt creeping in said:
In the 2008 European Cup final in Moscow, he played and scored in the penalty shoot-out against Chelsea. He was our first taker. In the game itself, I took Rooney off and left Tévez on because he was playing better than Wayne. What planted a doubt in my mind was that in his second season I signed Dimitar Berbatov, and the emphasis was on Berbatov and Rooney as our forward partnership.

Watching Dimitar at Tottenham, I felt he would make a difference because he had a certain composure and awareness that we lacked among our group of strikers. He displayed the ability of Cantona or Teddy Sheringham: not lightning quick, but he could lift his head and make a creative pass. I thought he could bring us up a level and extend our range of talents.

So Berbatov’s arrival relegated Tévez to more of a backup role. And around December in his second season, we started to feel he wasn’t doing especially well. The reason, I think, was that he’s the type of animal that needs to play all the time. If you’re not training intensively, which he wasn’t, you need to play regularly. During that winter, David Gill asked, ‘What do you want to do?’ I felt we ought to wait until later in the season to make a decision. ‘They want one now,’ David said.

I replied, ‘Just tell them I’m trying to get him more games so we can assess it properly, because Berbatov is in the team a lot.’
On 2009 CL Final said:
[...] Anyway, I brought Tévez on at half-time and just felt he was playing for himself a bit. From what I could gather, he had already made his mind up before joining City. After the game in Rome he said to me: ‘You never showed any great desire to sign me permanently.’ I explained that I had to see how the season played out and that he hadn’t played enough games for me to be sure.
Offer said:
David offered the £25 million fee for him, but from what I can gather it was as if he were talking to the wall. That led us to think he had already elected to move across town. The rumour, not confirmed, was that our Manchester rivals had paid £47 million. Tévez spoke to Chelsea at some point, too, and I think his advisers played one against the other. The word was that Chelsea offered £35 million but that City outbid them. To me these were incredible sums. I wouldn’t have paid that kind of money, fine player though he was. To me he was an impact maker. It was a mistake on my part, in the sense that Berbatov was a player I fancied strongly and I wanted to see him succeed. But he is also the sort who wants to be assured he is a great player. The conundrum with him and Tévez was always there.
 

croadyman

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Yeah Berbatov being underwhelming isn’t necessarily a great argument in favor of keeping Tevez. I think Tevez’s time with us gets a bit overrated too, we certainly didn’t see the best of him. And he turned out to be a massive prick.

Ideally we sign Aguero instead of either Tevez/Berbatov in this period, and then of course Robben to replace Ronaldo. Some missed opportunities unfortunately which maybe cost us another CL and PL.
Yeah Aguero should never have ended up a City legend but he moved right at the peak of "No value in the market" era
 

mu4c_20le

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Tevez was always a head case. Some people keep clinging onto that one season but the guy was unstable and not someone you'd build the team around.
 

Lay

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His first touch was brilliant, technically one of the most gifted. Unfortunately he didn’t suit our style of play. That hat trick against Liverpool and the 5 against Blackburn are good memories. The turn and flick for C.Ronaldo too.
 

norm87cro

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I think we won the CL before Berbatov came (ie with two hardworking beasts upfront). We did reach 2 CL finals with Berbatov though although if my memory serves me right his CL goalscoring record was shocking (5 goals in 25 matches according to transfermarkt)
Well in all honesty I am not a Berbatov fan boy Im just fair enough to accept he had a great season for us. Something Pogba, Veron or Heinze never did. And he did produce a ton if magic something this thread should be all about
 

GlasgowCeltic

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He was a good player for United. Just came in at the wrong time. Gave his all for the club, didn't kick up a fuss against fergie when he was dropped. He is a bit like forlan when he was at United. Great player, just at the wrong time at the club. We are allowed to appreciate him. Ozil comparisons or not.
a phrase no one at the time would use to describe him on the pitch

genius ability but never the intensity of a great player and I think he struggled with big club pressure. But over time we'll only remember his great moments and he had some amazing ones for sure
 

Ryan7

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I would like to go against the thread sentiment for a moment. Berbatov was a wonderfully talented player who never did much here. Even his 10/11 season is severely padded with 11 goals in 3 games. He was useless in the CL and useless when we lost Rooney in 09/10 when we desperately needed him. I particularly remember him missing a 1v1 against Blackburn in a 0-0 in that run in which ended up costing us the title, and missing a late chance to equalise at OT against Chelsea that year too in the 2-1 loss.

Wonderful player in ability though and I'll always remember that goal against Liverpool and the touch against Blackpool - just didn't have the head to truly make it here and I don't think he ever really did make it here.
That was Valencia. Berbatov set up the chance.
 
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Nobby style

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Well in all honesty I am not a Berbatov fan boy Im just fair enough to accept he had a great season for us. Something Pogba, Veron or Heinze never did. And he did produce a ton if magic something this thread should be all about
Absurd thing to say about Heinze. Was fantastic for us til injuries did him in and he lost his place to Evra. He even won Matt Busby player of the year in 2004/2005, something Berbatov never did. So how in the world can you say Gabby Heinze never had a great season for us. Did you ever even watch him?
 

devilish

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Well in all honesty I am not a Berbatov fan boy Im just fair enough to accept he had a great season for us. Something Pogba, Veron or Heinze never did. And he did produce a ton if magic something this thread should be all about
Fair enough. However may I remind you that Pogba had 1 great season for us as well.
 

CatsOfUlthar

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I adored Berbatov, interesting to hear some folks say he'd have been perfect born ten years earlier or so, I think that's a good take too.

That said, I don't think I've enjoyed watching a player more. I never particularly agreed with the idea he lacked effort, I remember watching him in a few games seeing him floating around the CDM area, then as was so often the case, we'd break and begin a counter, and by the time the camera had planned across he was somehow in the forward line, and if he wasn't, he was on the ball about to place it with absurd accuracy, so many times I wondered if he really meant to do it the way he did, or if he was just born in the Bulgarian equivalent of a field of four leaved clovers.

Classy, stylish, with the appearance of effortlessness, and he's a player I personally miss for sure.
 

norm87cro

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Absurd thing to say about Heinze. Was fantastic for us til injuries did him in and he lost his place to Evra. He even won Matt Busby player of the year in 2004/2005, something Berbatov never did. So how in the world can you say Gabby Heinze never had a great season for us. Did you ever even watch him?
Always a bit overrated IMO aldo he did well for us. No Irwin or Evra though
 

Rockets Redglare

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Are you sure about that? Berbatov 2010-2011 season saw him score 21 goals and 6 assists in 42 games. Pogba's 2018-2019 season saw him score 16 goals and producing 11 assists in 47 games. May we not forget that Pogba was playing in a worst team under a worst manager and in a deeper role. In my opinion they were luxury signings. The money could have been better spent elsewhere. Tevez was far more suited to our game then Berbatov
Are you simple? Tevez didn’t want to be here and rejected the deal offered.
 

Nobby style

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Always a bit overrated IMO aldo he did well for us. No Irwin or Evra though
Heinze won the Matt Busby award on a side that featured a prime Nistleroy, Scholes, Giggs as well as Ronaldo and Rooney. Yeah, he did "well" for us. Massively underrated if anything, due to his flirting with Liverpool. An award mind you, never won by neither Evra nor Irwin.
 

norm87cro

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Heinze won the Matt Busby award on a side that featured a prime Nistleroy, Scholes, Giggs as well as Ronaldo and Rooney. Yeah, he did "well" for us. Massively underrated if anything, due to his flirting with Liverpool. An award mind you, never won by neither Evra nor Irwin.
Well I guess they both should be satisfied with the CLs they won
 

lsd

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Heinze won the Matt Busby award on a side that featured a prime Nistleroy, Scholes, Giggs as well as Ronaldo and Rooney. Yeah, he did "well" for us. Massively underrated if anything, due to his flirting with Liverpool. An award mind you, never won by neither Evra nor Irwin.

Heinze was always more of a cult hero all passion blood and guts type player. Fans always get drawn to players like that who fly into a tackle and wear their heart on their sleeve.

He was never anywhere near the likes of Irwin or Evra as a full back though
 

Tom Van Persie

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nope.

I am real curious why we celebrate certain flops especially the lazy kind. Who knows maybe we'll have a Pogba appreciation thread soon.
He's a flop in your opinion. A lot of United fans don't see Berbatov as a flop.
 

Scandi Red

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Why are there so many comments from so many different posters? This is Berbatov's appreciation thread, not yours!
 

devilish

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He's a flop in your opinion. A lot of United fans don't see Berbatov as a flop.
Which is curious indeed. Why would be the case. I mean a striker who scored just 5 goals in 25 CL matches is a flop especially since they came against Benfica(1), Celtic (2) and Aalborg (2)
 

devilish

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Are you simple? Tevez didn’t want to be here and rejected the deal offered.
Tevez wanted to join us up until SAF made it obvious that he preferred to sign Berbatov rather then make his deal permanent. Its a shame because Tevez proved himself to be a way better striker then Berbatov was.
 

berbatrick

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He did nothing for the team but was ruthless for goals.
This is anyway a de-facto Berba hate thread, but this is the strangest angle to go with...He was an extremely unselfish striker, too much in fact.
 

devilish

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He did nothing for the team but was ruthless for goals.
actually he wasn't. The guy scored like 5 goals in the CL and just 56 goals in 159 games. He only scored 20 goals+ in one season with us and during the 11-12 season he just scored 9
 

devilish

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This is anyway a de-facto Berba hate thread, but this is the strangest angle to go with...He was an extremely unselfish striker, too much in fact.
For the record I don't hate Berbatov. I don't think that he was anywhere as good as some fans makes him to be but he was always respectful towards our club. Making it with United at the time was tough very tough. We were spoiled with some of the finest forwards in the world and the bar was set sky high. There's no shame in failing to succeed and there were many players who suffered a similar or even worse fate (Blanc, Veron, Barthez etc)
 

Red the Bear

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To add some more context it would seem Fergie was a sucker for flashy and technical number 9s so it's easy to see why we gone after him, but unfortunately he didn't have the consistent to justify the freedoms say a Cantona would have been afforded, as it's been already said time and time again we would have been better off with a workhorse like tevez than such a silky smooth but admittedly lazy player like berbatov.
 

lsd

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actually he wasn't. The guy scored like 5 goals in the CL and just 56 goals in 159 games. He only scored 20 goals+ in one season with us and during the 11-12 season he just scored 9

And those 20 goals came in about five or six games.

It's a strange one how I feel about Berbatov. When he was at Spurs I always felt we should go for him and he would fit in well at United.

Then he came and while he showed he was talented enough his work rate was pathetic.

It just grates that there were players at United even more talented than him but they knew it was about the team and running so adapted their game and did what was needed.

He just couldn't do that and it was no surprise Fergie lost the faith in him.

He could have been a true legend who would be remembered as such for years but instead he's a cult player adored by few mostly forgotten by most
 

The_Midfielder

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A nothing player... Could do some tricks.. Never clutch..missed goals when we needed the most.. Lukaku had better killer instincts than him.. Yeah but he had better skills.. Tevez was the one we should have kept
 

Wilt

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One of the most naturally gifted footballers ever to play in the Prem, bordering genius at times. Shame he never really reached the heights he should have done.
 

Bondi77

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I loved watching Berba play but I think Spurs and even Fulham got more out of him than what we did.
The treble he scored against Liverpool was what dreams are made of and the five for was special.