Dimitar Berbatov Struggles Through a Difficult First Season

(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.

Cristiano Ronaldo often gets the "arrogant" label thrown at him. However, he can be forgiven because of last season’s goal tally and his world renowned skill. Wayne Rooney can be exonerated for his brash temper because of the enthusiasm he shows along with undoubted raw talent.

Berbatov rarely seems flustered when things aren't going the way they should be. While keeping your cool in these situations can be a virtue, an apparent lazy approach to every football match is not the 'Manchester United way'. The point being, if you can back up what you do people won't get on you back, but it is questionable as to whether Berbatov has done enough this season.

Berbatov's partnership with Rooney has directly yielded a solitary goal this season. Of the four goals the Bulgarian has netted in the Champions League, two came against Danish minnows Aalborgand the other two against Celtic—both games were played in the group stages.

We have all seen glimpses of the magnificent this season for Manchester United and we have seen his abilities at Tottenham, but it is only apparent now that Berbatov was not sulking at Tottenham when criticisms were levelled at him. This is simply the way he plays football.

Berbatov undoubtedly has a class to him, but the question is whether his class fits in with the way Manchester United play (something Ferguson obviously thought were true when shelling out over £30 million for him on deadline day).

Last season United could play a front three of Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo with the three readily interchangeable whether it be on the left, middle or through the centre. A major part of United's threat was through their speed and counter attacking ability. This seems to be lost when Berbatov plays because he regularly slows play down.

Tevez has suffered most from Berbatov relentless inclusion in United's starting line-ups (despite his patchy form). As the Argentine says he is not out of the team because of anything he has done wrong when he has played.

"What I've found in England is that a player can score three or four goals in one match (Tevez scored four in the Carling Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers in December) and in the following match not even make the team."

Berbatov and Tevez have both netted 13 goals this season. However, the majority of Tevez's goals have either been scored coming off the bench or in disjointed starts. The amount of crucial late goals Tevez has scored in the last two seasons have also helped to endear him to the United faithful.

I personally would love to see Tevez sign a contract with United and stay in the Premier League but that doesn't seem likely unless Ferguson can guarantee him more football.

If Berbatov stays with United for the duration (there have been calls for Ferguson to call it quits and buy a new striker) then I'm sure Berbatov can win over the United crowd. His records seem to show that once the Bulgarian has acclimatised to a club his production almost doubles in the second or third season. Fans perhaps shouldn't be so hasty to criticise Berbatov, Ferguson usually gets it right—usually.

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