Sheringham v Berbatov who was the better player for us?

simplyared

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Whilst there are a few threads going round comparing players I thought this comparison deserved a shout. Hope it's not been done before.

Both joined Utd from Spurs. Goalscorers both of them. Sheringham however when joining Utd was the older player, already in his 30’s. None of them known for putting a sweat on but classy players nonetheless.

I’d go for Teddy, but there’s not a lot in it!
 

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Sheringham seemed to chip in with important goals at important times. There's the obvious goal in the Nou Camp, but also the FA cup final and others where we needed someone to come up with a goal. Berbatov was a great player but if memory serves, he didn't have the same knack for scoring the decisive goals in big games (Liverpool hat-trick apart). He'd get the 3rd and 4th in a 4-0 win, rather than the stoppage time winner.
 

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Teddy. Berbatov didn't fit with the team that well. His best goal scoring season was done over about 8 games or something.
 

edcunited1878

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Teddy. Berbatov didn't fit with the team that well. His best goal scoring season was done over about 8 games or something.
Berba scored 20 league goals and tied for the league golden boot with i think Tevez. Output wise, similar if you double Berba's career PL appearance to be equal of Teddy. But I do agree that Teddy was the better player as he was a better fit for his respective United teams. And he is a club hero for May 99 while Dimitar may be known for his hat trick against Liverpool or five goals against Blackburn.
 

Lay

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Berba scored 20 league goals and tied for the league golden boot with i think Tevez. Output wise, similar if you double Berba's career PL appearance to be equal of Teddy. But I do agree that Teddy was the better player as he was a better fit for his respective United teams. And he is a club hero for May 99 while Dimitar may be known for his hat trick against Liverpool or five goals against Blackburn.
Yeah that’s the season, top goal scorer but he only scored in about 8 games. He was erratic that season but the 5 against Blackburn papered over a lot of quiet games
 

FrantikChicken

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Yeah that’s the season, top goal scorer but he only scored in about 8 games. He was erratic that season but the 5 against Blackburn papered over a lot of quiet games
To be fair I also don't think he was in the starting 11 much for the latter part of the season.
 

Irwin99

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Teddy. Scored some important goals and got some important assists even before his best season in 00/01. POTY winner that season too.
 

Foxbatt

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Teddy for sure. The team was set up to get the best out of a player like Teddy. He was the one who drops deep while the other striker played up front. Of course the team he played was also a lot better than the team Berbatov played. But in my opinion as a player Berbatov was better but for United Teddy was the better player.
 

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Teddy had a knack of working really well with virtually everyone he was paired with. Jurgen Klinsmann says he’s the best partner he’s ever had, he famously worked brilliantly with Shearer and he even worked well with Cole despite them hating each other.

Berba on the other hand kinda struggled to fit in with us, especially to start with. He was never going to be the main man with the likes of Ronaldo or Rooney (or even Tevez) here but he also never really became the foil to anyone either. There were definitely things he could do that Teddy couldn’t, but Teddy was a much smoother and more accommodating presence.
 

cyril C

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Sheringham seemed to chip in with important goals at important times. There's the obvious goal in the Nou Camp, but also the FA cup final and others where we needed someone to come up with a goal. Berbatov was a great player but if memory serves, he didn't have the same knack for scoring the decisive goals in big games (Liverpool hat-trick apart). He'd get the 3rd and 4th in a 4-0 win, rather than the stoppage time winner.
More than that, recalling from memory of course. Sheringham assisted more and linked up better with the team. Berbatov while hold and pass, was far too slow to be effective.
 

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Berbatov
149 matches (9905min) - 56 goals - 27 assists

Sheringham
153 matchest (9689min) - 46 goals - 28 assists

Both stayed with us for 4 seasons. Stats are comparible. Our team in 08/09 was great but looking at their whole time with the club Sheringham played in the better team. In Teddy's time he played with Cole, York and Solskjær as partners up top with Beckham and Giggs on the wing. Berbatov played a game next to Ashley Young in the CL.

Saying one was better than the other is splitting hairs.

To be fair I also don't think he was in the starting 11 much for the latter part of the season.
He only played 2/3 of the time in the league.
 

acnumber9

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Sheringham had one good season for Utd. Sheringham got to score two goals in two finals that other players carried him to so that will elevate him above Berbatov.
 

Luke1995

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Did Ibrahimovic had a bigger impact in his only season with us than both of them during their entire time here ?
 

Number32

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CL final 2009 when Berba in, I wish he could made the same impact as Sheringham did in 1999.
I didn't remember Berba scoring important goals to give us trophies, Yes he has a better goal scoring record and a hatrick vs Liverpool but most them scoring against minnows.
 

MancunianAngels

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Berbatov.

Teddy was slated by a lot of reds before the end of 98/99. As someone said above, he only really had one good season which was 00/01.

Berbatov had one great season, in which he dragged us through a lot of matches before Rooney came back from injury/flirting with City. He also contributed more in the other 3 seasons.
 

James Peril

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Berbatov is cool, suave and charismatic, Sheringham is boring, old-fashioned and a set-piece merchant. However, Teddy scored the equalizer in the CL-final and that ends all discussions :D
 

padzilla

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I think Teddy was the more reliable of the two in big games, I remember an FA Cup semifinal in which Berba missed a simple chance against City that really should have been scored with the score nil nil and they went on to win the cup and start their era of success. If we had beaten them that day who knows what would have happened? Teddy on the other hand seemed to thrive on the big occasion. Both great players but never felt either of them was a true icon at the club and always seemed to be in the shadow of other attacking options we had.
 

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Teddy is a f... LEGEND and has more of a reputation amongst United fans aldo it has to be said that Berba amazed me a few times the way he played and he was so technically gifted it seemed efortless at times.
 

freeurmind

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Good thread.

I'd have to say Sheringham but just. Berba was probably past his very best by the time he got to us.
 

Sandikan

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Yeah that’s the season, top goal scorer but he only scored in about 8 games. He was erratic that season but the 5 against Blackburn papered over a lot of quiet games
That was a funny season, as Rooney had his first off the boil season, and we were fortunate Berbatov top scorer. But like you say he scored a lot of multiples
 

groovyalbert

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Both had one outstanding season with us, whilst chipping in consistently across others.

The signing of Yorke probably makes Sheringham look better in hindsight. We achieved more as a club for having Cole, Yorke, Solskjaer and Sheringham as our strikers.

Whilst we were undoubtedly successful with Berbatov, our squad was drastically weaker by the time he left. He joined when our front 4 consisted of Rooney, Ronaldo, Tevez and Berbatov. By next season, Ronaldo and Tevez had left.

Because of this, it is hard not to remember Berbatov as having somewhat failed to live up to the standard we needed him to hit more consistently. He came as our mos expensive striker, and then had to play a major role of Ronaldo/Tevez successor. Sheringham had a poor first season, but flourished once the pressure of replacing Cantona lifted.

Berbatov was the better player, but the expectations of him were too high. Sheringham was very good, but probably remembered more fondly due to the settled sides he was a part of.
 

Sandikan

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I think Teddy was the more reliable of the two in big games, I remember an FA Cup semifinal in which Berba missed a simple chance against City that really should have been scored with the score nil nil and they went on to win the cup and start their era of success. If we had beaten them that day who knows what would have happened? Teddy on the other hand seemed to thrive on the big occasion. Both great players but never felt either of them was a true icon at the club and always seemed to be in the shadow of other attacking options we had.
Seem to recall an absolutely dreadful missed pen down the line somewhere too.
 

FujiVice

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Teddy was one of the smartest players I've ever witnessed. Would have actually liked to have seen him and Ruud have a season together. I understand why he left, the combination of the money, the age and going back to london, but I thought Teddy would have been handy to have around the club for the rest of his career.
 

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Teddy for me. I dislike the description of Berba as a luxury player given as MA said he made key contributions when Rooney was off the boil as well as in a few other seasons:

Berbatov.

Teddy was slated by a lot of reds before the end of 98/99. As someone said above, he only really had one good season which was 00/01.

Berbatov had one great season, in which he dragged us through a lot of matches before Rooney came back from injury/flirting with City. He also contributed more in the other 3 seasons.
That being said Teddy was the man more often in key moments, so he gets the nod.
 

Bubz27

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Yeah that’s the season, top goal scorer but he only scored in about 8 games. He was erratic that season but the 5 against Blackburn papered over a lot of quiet games
He scored 13 goals in 4 games, which means he scored 7 goals in the other 28.
 

youngrell

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Despite being bought to replace Cantona, I don't think Sheringham was ever expected to be the main focus in attack as was expected of Berbatov, so I think Teddy probably fulfilled his role at the club better overall. Berbatov, ultimately, was a let down when considering his whole career with us, despite flashes of brilliance.

Teddy.
 

fps

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Teddy had a knack of working really well with virtually everyone he was paired with. Jurgen Klinsmann says he’s the best partner he’s ever had, he famously worked brilliantly with Shearer and he even worked well with Cole despite them hating each other.

Berba on the other hand kinda struggled to fit in with us, especially to start with. He was never going to be the main man with the likes of Ronaldo or Rooney (or even Tevez) here but he also never really became the foil to anyone either. There were definitely things he could do that Teddy couldn’t, but Teddy was a much smoother and more accommodating presence.
Completely agree, Sheringham was such an intelligent player, as well as being a model professional. Different players, different expectations, Berbatov didn't have the required dynamism.
 

MancunianAngels

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Interesting how big goals change perceptions of a player.

Teddy scored 16 League goals in his first 3 seasons, he was a squad player for 2 of those seasons. Ironic that his best season came in 00/01, he only stayed that prior summer because the Van Nistelrooy transfer was delayed.
 

TheReligion

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Whilst there are a few threads going round comparing players I thought this comparison deserved a shout. Hope it's not been done before.

Both joined Utd from Spurs. Goalscorers both of them. Sheringham however when joining Utd was the older player, already in his 30’s. None of them known for putting a sweat on but classy players nonetheless.

I’d go for Teddy, but there’s not a lot in it!
Poor show. I'd of expected an appearance and goal count in the OP with obligatory videos of key moments.

In view of the lack of this I'm not getting involved in this thread. Shame as it was an interesting comparison and I would have enjoyed giving my views. If only you'd made an effort.
 
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I didn’t warm to either player. Teddy clearly contributed more, but I didn’t rate either of them - however we were blessed with great strikers when both players joined, and perhaps without that competition they may have faired better in my eyes.
 

Greck

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He scored 13 goals in 4 games, which means he scored 7 goals in the other 28.
Yeah his scoring record that season has to be one of the biggest instances of misleading stats. Regardless of the tally it was actually a less than stellar scoring season
 

Yagami

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Teddy without a doubt.

His role in winning the treble, his amazing 00/01 season, and a bit of bias due to him being one of my favourites ever.

Two moments I always remember fondly are when he was back at Old Trafford for Spurs and, after being substituted, went to the United bench instead of Spurs'. The other is when he held 3 fingers up at Arsenal fans:

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