I remember all the excitement at the caf when he was about to sign for us, the pictures coming in of him at Carrington, the shots of him ready to take the medical, etc... I don't think there was a single person that wasn't super excited about him signing for us, that Berbatov thread was a classic.
Berbatov's Appreciation Thread
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Ibra had a much bigger ego, and was always the main man in every team.
Berba could be the playmaking central figure (2009) with other goalscorers (Ronaldo, Rooney) or the goalscoring #9 (2011) with playmakers behind (Rooney, Giggs, Nani). Could adapt and didn't need to be the star.
Though the competition for both those spots was peak Messi. There just wasn't a reason for any signing there.
Great to watch but not a great player. He seemed like an impulse signing at the time for me. Not what we needed but still worth bringing to the club at the same time.
Wasn't there the notion, that Fergie brought him in to prepare for a post-Ronaldo time? I think, his timing here was just a bit bad. In his first year, it was pure overkill having him together with Tev, Rooney and Ronaldo. Afterwards he had to fight because of him being the "replacement" for Tevez who was a bit of a fan favorite back then (not for long). Not just the player itself but also the type of player because he was so relentless and Berba was to complete antidote. Afterwards he suffered from the whole team being a bit undercooked, with a bit of a more and more aging squad and unlucky recruitment.
Still consider myself a Berbatov fan. He was just cool. Felt a bit bad that it didn't end too well for him with us.
I think while the Berbatov signing was exciting, I think at the time it also felt a bit unnecessary because Tevez had just come off a fantastic pre-season (unless my memory is failing me) and Berbatov just felt like a bit of a luxury signing than a need. I like Berbatov as a player but it still somewhat annoys me that it lead to the ultimate exit of Tevez, who was the far better player, imo.
Yeah, you are right, actually. And I remember Tevez (who was one of my favourite players) saying in an interview that the arrival of Berbatov was the end for him at United. For some reason we were all caught up in a frenzy the night Berbatov was about to sign, I remember everybody refreshing their caf page in anticipation, it was mad.
Diego Forlan is a cult player for a lot of United fans because of his 2 goals against Liverpool, Berba was the first United player in 64 years to score a hat-trick against them, for that reason alone he should be a cult hero 
One of my favourite United players despite it not working out perfectly for him here. That wasn't his fault at all.
At the time, Berbatov had the best touch, and he scored some great goals.
But he frustrated the hell out of me. He had the pace of a geriatric. The only thing he pressed were his clothes. And at a time when we were a fast, counter-attacking team, he had me tearing my hair out as he controlled a ball only to lose all momentum from the attack while he preened himself for his wonderful ball control before looking around and FINALLY making a pass.
But he frustrated the hell out of me. He had the pace of a geriatric. The only thing he pressed were his clothes. And at a time when we were a fast, counter-attacking team, he had me tearing my hair out as he controlled a ball only to lose all momentum from the attack while he preened himself for his wonderful ball control before looking around and FINALLY making a pass.
Berbatov doesn't press and his movement is too languid.
Terrible fit for a Pep team.
I think Berbatov’s signing was to make us less reliant on counter attacks to break down opponents but it just didn’t work out as we planned.
I do not see how, he would love it, he would be amazing at linking up all the play.
Well Berbatov just wasn’t good enough to start for any Guardiola side. He wasn’t deemed good enough to start for United in two CL finals against a Guardiola side, and struggled to win the trust of Ferguson throughout his time at United.
Guardiola demands a ruthlessness, level of efficiency, and dynamism from his players that Berbatov never showed. He also happily sacrifices individual talent and his teams don’t really carry luxury players.
For United signing Berbatov was a step backwards. Ferguson loved this type of talent since Cantona and tried to replicate it with Sheringham and Berbatov (and by signing Di Canio). Ferguson was willing to indulge individual talents to a much greater degree than Guardiola, yet even then Berbatov never really won him over.
And what goals they were. Made everything look even more effortless than usual that day.Diego Forlan is a cult player for a lot of United fans because of his 2 goals against Liverpool, Berba was the first United player in 64 years to score a hat-trick against them, for that reason alone he should be a cult hero
Horrendously overrated since he retired. Good player on his day which were very very few and far between at United.
He didn't play for us because we played a style that didn't suit him, Peps team play VERY differently to us. There are players that have done really well for Pep that would not do well for us.
Berbatov is far from a luxury player, hes the type of player you can build around.
Still played a big part in us winning a league title though, which is a lot more then you can say for other strikers that have played for us.
That's fairly true but I think his 20 goals there get quite overrated, so many of them were in like 4 games. Always will appreciate the Liverpool hat trick and maybe we don't win the title without him that year but I think Hernandez scored more actual winning/equalising goals that season. I had such huge hopes for Berbatov and he never really delivered on them.
Also hard to forgive that miss against Chelsea in 2010 in the 2-1 at Old Trafford which would have won us the league. Or the miss against Blackburn in the 0-0 in the same run in.
Good player, overall contribution is heavily over rated. Scored 2 hat tricks, 5 and a brace in 4 games and did shag all else.
Also, people creaming themselves over a pro being able to kick a ball against a wall and control it. Go outside and you'll realise it's not actually that hard.
In games we either won by a single goal or drew that season, Berbatov scoring either the winning goal or the goal that got the draw got us 11 points - more then anyone else for us that season.
Hernandez's goals using the same metric got us 9 points, so they were both big reasons we won the league that season.
That’s a masterpiece
Where did plechazunga go?One of the elegant players of his generation with the first touch of a genius. He won us the league in 2010/11. He had an amazing season. Scoring hat-tricks and also that 5 goal 5 star performance against Blackburn. I still can't understand why SAF benched him for the UCL final.
I loved his cig smoking, bohemian style
Never forget that piece of skill on the touchline, I think it was against West Ham
Never forget that piece of skill on the touchline, I think it was against West Ham
Yeah, he scored some crucial goals, but his overall workrate and attacking contribution to the team was lacking, that's why he was left out of the CL final. Hernandez played and started much less and in his shorter time on the pitch he still almost equalled Berbatovs overall impact.
There is not a single player who I wanted to succeed more at United, but let us not kid ourselves.
Not in the squad for a CL final. Record signing. Come on.
Not in the squad for a CL final. Record signing. Come on.
Berbs not in the squad for 2011 CL final is a mistake that Fergie made and he publicly admitted it was mistake.
Berbatov was great, could have been even greater but he never was the main man. In almost every game you'd see Berbatov in excellent position for a shot, or even simple tap in, but the likes of Rooney, Nani, Ronaldo,Tevez etc. would opt to shoot instead of pass. For two seasons in a row he scored over 23 goals for Spurs because he was the main man and his teammates played for him much more.
In Manchester United everyone wants to shine. The end of 2011 season comes to mind - final game at OT, Blackpool. Berba needs a goal or two, to grab golden boot by himself, not to share it with Tevez from city.
The team didn't play for him AT ALL. He grabbed a couple of assists in this game, but the likes of Park, Owen would always go for glory, always looking for goals for themselves.
People also forget how many assists Berbatov made in his first season. Yes, he did miss penalty against Everton, but so did Rio... And we actually looked better when he came on in the 2nd half in CL final vs Barcelona then. A game where we got beaten by a fecking Messi header...
Berbatov is appreciated worldwide because he always wanted his football to be beautiful. And he delivered great moments, moments which will be remembered.
Berbatov was great, could have been even greater but he never was the main man. In almost every game you'd see Berbatov in excellent position for a shot, or even simple tap in, but the likes of Rooney, Nani, Ronaldo,Tevez etc. would opt to shoot instead of pass. For two seasons in a row he scored over 23 goals for Spurs because he was the main man and his teammates played for him much more.
In Manchester United everyone wants to shine. The end of 2011 season comes to mind - final game at OT, Blackpool. Berba needs a goal or two, to grab golden boot by himself, not to share it with Tevez from city.
The team didn't play for him AT ALL. He grabbed a couple of assists in this game, but the likes of Park, Owen would always go for glory, always looking for goals for themselves.
People also forget how many assists Berbatov made in his first season. Yes, he did miss penalty against Everton, but so did Rio... And we actually looked better when he came on in the 2nd half in CL final vs Barcelona then. A game where we got beaten by a fecking Messi header...
Berbatov is appreciated worldwide because he always wanted his football to be beautiful. And he delivered great moments, moments which will be remembered.
A fantastic player.
A bit like Veron in the sense that trying to fit a new style of player into an already successful team was always going to be difficult.
Always found it interesting that his best run of form came in 2010/2011 when Rooney was AWOL/injured.
A bit like Veron in the sense that trying to fit a new style of player into an already successful team was always going to be difficult.
Always found it interesting that his best run of form came in 2010/2011 when Rooney was AWOL/injured.