Bleacher Report - Articles by Steve Frimpon

Dimitar Berbatov Struggles Through a Difficult First Season

Steve Frimpon — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:21:47 -0400

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.

Andrei Arshavin Steals the Show at Anfield With Amazing Four Goal Haul

Steve Frimpon — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:34:16 -0400

Tuesday night saw one of the most remarkable games in the history of the Premier League. The match between Liverpool and Arsenal, played at Anfield, produced a thrilling 4-4 draw.

This is the second time in a week that Liverpool have taken part in a 4-4 draw (the previous being against Chelsea in an equally amazing Champions League match) and the third game in a row where they have scored four goals.

With Arsene Wenger admitting before the game that Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie would be unavailable for the game, Arsenal's attacking options looked bleak. However, Andrei Arshavin proved the doubters wrong by becoming the first player in over 60 years to score four goals at Anfield in a league game.

Liverpool arguably started the stronger of the two teams looking dangerous in attack; however, they fell behind to Arshavin’s first goal just after the half hour mark. Liverpool duly responded through Torres and 10 minutes after the interval found themselves 2-1 up through Yossi Benayoun with help from more suspect defending from Arsenal.

The emphasis was definitely on attack throughout the match. Some evidence of this can be seen from the eight goals on show along with two disallowed goals for Arsenal (both marginal offsides), and Lukasz Fabianski and Pepe Reina will both admit that they we’re busier than they would have liked.

Statistics show that Arshavin touched the ball a mere 20 times, with four of those touches resulting in goals. The second and the fourth of the Russians goals showed his impressive technical ability with the ball at his feet. For Arsenal’s second goal Arshavin shrewdly pinched the ball off of a lax Arbeloa, cut inside and smashed a venomous swerving shot past a helpless Reina.

Arshavin later admitted that he does not view himself as being at full potential because he was so quiet during the opening periods of the match.

“I don't think I have adapted yet because in the first half I was quiet except for the one moment when I scored. It's difficult but I will try—I need time…and then everything will be better.”

If this statement has any truth behind it then we could be witnessing the beginning of a truly amazing Premier League career for the Russian. Arshavin again showed his class in the 90^thminute with another sublime finish. With the scores level at 3-3, Theo Walcott broke away on the right handside with only Jamie Carragher ahead of him. Arshavin, using his exceptional pace, appeared from nowhere on the left of Walcott to offer a perfect chance for a one-on-one with Reina.

Walcott neatly played the ball into the Russian however, running at full throttle Arshavin only had time to touch the ball once onto his unfavoured left foot before again rifling past a helpless Pepe Reina.

Liverpool managed to rescue a point in the 92^nd minute a cap a remarkable night of football. The match ebbed and flowed with both sets of fans thinking that the game had escaped them.

It is true that it would have been harsh on either team had they lost but with Arsenal leading in the 91^stminute and Liverpool dropping two points at home, neither team left Anfield completely happy.

At times Arsenal’s passing and movement to get in behind the Liverpool defence was football of the highest quality, however on too many occasions they were let down by their suspect defence. Liverpool will have to improve defensively if they are to have any chance of catching Manchester United at the top of the league.

Arshavin showed his class on Tuesday night with sublime finishing and efficiency and with Arsenal still set to play Manchester United three more times this season and Chelsea once, it is looking set to be a fascinating end to what has already been an amazing footballing season.

EPL: Derby Day Doom Dents United Title Hopes

Steve Frimpon — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:26:00 -0500

In the light of United's miserable display against their rivals, Manchester City, Sir Alex Ferguson now faces a stern test leading in to the end of the season. On Sunday his players looked jaded and sluggish, the football was poor in all; the defense didn't concentrate and there was no creativity up-front with Wayne Rooney absent.

Sir Alex's call for United to remain unbeaten for the rest of the season has been ignored by his players whilst his other title contenders, Arsenal and Chelsea, have been steadily picking up points.

The Manchester United players have been at the top of the table in recent years only to see the title slip away in the last few years. But the club ethos is their never-say-die attitude to football. This has led them to salvage points late on in matches when people had already written them off; most memorably that emphatic final in Barcelona almost ten years ago now.

With Louis Saha and Gary Neville close to fitness and the rest of the first team free from suspension, Sir Alex will now have hesitation in ringing the changes if he feels the current crop aren't playing to the required standard.

After all, on a day that started with Sir Bobby Charlton looking on from the crowd hoping that he would be as entertained with the football on show as the football the Busby Babes produced, he was probably left feeling the same as the rest of the 76,000 in attendance—frustrated and short changed.

While I’m sure there won’t be a huge backlash aimed towards the manager for this defeat, he needs to pick his players up and motivate them for the next match. The players need to understand that Arsenal are not going to slip away in the title race this season. Not only are Arsenal not going to go on a losing streak but it also looks like Chelsea are getting very close to catching the Red Devils.