Dimitar Berbatov Struggles Through a Difficult First Season

Steve Frimpon by Contributor Written on April 23, 2009
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 19:  Dimitar Berbatov of Manchester United controls the ball during the FA Cup sponsored by E.ON Semi Final match between Everton and Manchester United at Wembley Stadium on April 19, 2009 in London, England.  (Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images) (Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images)

Sunday saw Manchester United eliminated from this seasons FA Cup 4-2 on penalties by a resilient Everton team.

United started the match with an incredibly young side. Although Carlos Tevez and Anderson can be considered established members of Manchester United's team they are 25 and 21 respectively, so in that respect Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were the only two experienced United players to start the match.

Ferguson claimed to have full confidence in his young side and at half time it seemed to be paying off as his team were holding their own against an Everton first team (considering injuries and availability).

With the game level at 0-0, the more experienced faces of Patrice Evra, Paul Scholes and eventually Dimitar Berbatov were introduced. Earlier on in the match Danny Welbeck and much touted wonderkid Federico Macheda had linked up well, constantly threatening the Toffees backline.

The deadlock looked like it would be inevitably broken by one of the two, but the longer the game stayed at 0-0 the clearer it became that a change was needed. (This was made clearer with Macheda going down with cramp towards the end of the 90 minutes.)

Berbatov was the only recognised striker on the bench and was believed to be in line for a Wembley start along with Evra and Scholes before Sir Alex Ferguson reconsidered. Ferguson changed his mind after seeing the poor condition of the pitch in the Arsenal-Chelsea semi-final the day before.

Berbatov came on and failed to make an impression. A criticism often levelled at the Bulgarian. In the penalty shoot-out that followed he preceded to take one of the worst penalties seen this season, which is a feat in itself considering Tim Cahill's "high, wide and handsome" effort only seconds before his.

The penalty seemed to lack effort as he strolled up to the ball and seemingly rolled it towards Tim Howard. Perhaps he could have been forgiven if he had endured the full 120 minutes but at that stage he was the freshest Manchester United player.

Berbatov's goal haul this season along with his playing style have often been called into question. Compared with the hustling and harrying style of his compatriot Carlos Tevez, Berbatov obviously looks like an out of place IT consultant who turned up for a kick around, but he has other qualities.

Whether its deftly controlling a spinning ball travelling 40 yards through the sky or expertly spinning the ball and tricking a West Ham defender before setting up a one yard tap in, Berbatov will do it at his own pace in his own time.

"Good things come to those who wait" might be a motto the Bulgarian lives by. Berbatov often looks like a footballer in a pre-game warm-up when perhaps he should be showing more energy and enthusiasm.

It is true that he is not the same type of player as Tevez and that is not necessarily a bad thing. He simply does not endear himself to the Manchester United faithful, particularly when it goes wrong.

Single Page
Vote Now! - Author Poll

Should Sir Alex stick with Dimitar Berbatov?

  • Yes
  • No
vote to see results
Results - Author Poll

Should Sir Alex stick with Dimitar Berbatov?

  • Yes

    81.8%
  • No

    18.2%
  • Total votes: 11
(0)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

6 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

123
reads

6
comments

written on April 23, 2009 Opinion

Telegraph.co.uk Football News

Visit Telegraph.co.uk for more news.

The best Manchester United newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address