It's funny how Berbatov is now seen as United fans as some kind of legend despite him having a difficult time here a lot of the time.
2008/09 he didn't really live up to expectation and even experienced a fair amount of abuse for some things e.g. that penalty against Everton in the cup. 2009/10 when Rooney and later Nani stepped up to try and close the void Ronaldo left, Berbatov didn't at all really. I was very very frustrated with him towards the end of that season.
If it wasn't for the first half of 2010/11 where he was sensational he might even be considered something of a flop here when you consider he was our record transfer for years. Even in 2010/11 he was completely out of favour towards the end and when he did play he cost us like in the cup semi-final against City where he missed 2 sitters. That season obviously then culminated in him not even being in the squad for the CL final. It was obvious he was inferior to Rooney where as with Tevez I never really felt that way. 2011/12 he was a bit-part player really.
What it was with Berbatov was just the moments of magic he provided even when he really was frustrating. The flick round Collins, the overhead kick against Sunderland and even towards the very end I remember a magical back-heel against Fulham. Combine that with the first half of 2010/11 and you can look back and say he did alright.
Nevertheless, to answer the OP I think he did hinder Tevez who suited us a lot better and we would have fared better had we had Tevez and not Berbatov from 2009 onwards.
I honestly think it's a bold claim but there's an argument that had we had Tevez and not Berbatov we would have won the league in both 2010 and 2012 and possibly the Champions League in 2010. Tevez was sensational for City 2009-2011 the best player in the league behind Rooney for me.
2008/09 he didn't really live up to expectation and even experienced a fair amount of abuse for some things e.g. that penalty against Everton in the cup. 2009/10 when Rooney and later Nani stepped up to try and close the void Ronaldo left, Berbatov didn't at all really. I was very very frustrated with him towards the end of that season.
If it wasn't for the first half of 2010/11 where he was sensational he might even be considered something of a flop here when you consider he was our record transfer for years. Even in 2010/11 he was completely out of favour towards the end and when he did play he cost us like in the cup semi-final against City where he missed 2 sitters. That season obviously then culminated in him not even being in the squad for the CL final. It was obvious he was inferior to Rooney where as with Tevez I never really felt that way. 2011/12 he was a bit-part player really.
What it was with Berbatov was just the moments of magic he provided even when he really was frustrating. The flick round Collins, the overhead kick against Sunderland and even towards the very end I remember a magical back-heel against Fulham. Combine that with the first half of 2010/11 and you can look back and say he did alright.
Nevertheless, to answer the OP I think he did hinder Tevez who suited us a lot better and we would have fared better had we had Tevez and not Berbatov from 2009 onwards.
I honestly think it's a bold claim but there's an argument that had we had Tevez and not Berbatov we would have won the league in both 2010 and 2012 and possibly the Champions League in 2010. Tevez was sensational for City 2009-2011 the best player in the league behind Rooney for me.