Manchester United: Dimitar Berbatov and the Success Behind United's Old Guard

Find a club in the English Premier League with a richer history than that of Manchester United.

This is a club that every single year, is expected to win the league and every single year, they come pretty close to doing exactly that. In fact, the Red Devils haven't finished outside of the top three since the old first division in 1990-91.

Every single season since then has seen them perform as a genuine championship threat.

And it's no surprise or shock to state that a large part of their success has come from the ability and scoring prowess of their men up front.

Names like Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes and Brian McClair are littered throughout the success of Manchester United, and there's no doubt that the Red Devils won games and ultimately premierships because they could score goals en masse.

In today's game, as soon as you turn 26, you're considered old. Youthful players are the focus of managers worldwide because of that one word: potential.

Young players have potential; older players have skills that we've already seen.

As soon as a player hits his mid-20s or heaven forbid, his 30s, he's subconsciously expected by the supporters and sometimes management as well to either perform, or make way for the younger guard.

However, for Manchester United, as good as the young guard may be, the old guard is bringing the Red Devils the success.

Take Dimitar Berbatov as the prime example.

At 31, he's not getting any younger. He's not suddenly developing hidden speed overnight and he's not magically going to be any fitter.

Yet at the same time, he's bringing success and bringing goals—which at the end of the day, is all a striker can do, whatever his age may be.

The 2011-12 English Premier League season is not yielding the goals for Berbatov that saw him win the Golden Boot last year, but his effect on the United side cannot be underestimated.

For starters, he's keeping England star Michael Owen on the bench.

Then, he's keeping Manchester's youthful players players like Macheda (21), Bebe (22), King (20) and Keane (19) out of his spot.

It takes serious skill on behalf of the player combined faith from the manager for older players to succeed and Berbatov has exactly that going for him.

Sir Alex Ferguson must not be forgotten, as his continued vote of confidence in Berbatov allows the 31-year-old to continue to find the back of the net for United.

Yet at the same time, we must not take any credit away from Berbatov himself.

He's not defying the age-barrier in the same way that Ryan Giggs may be doing, but he is definitely bucking the trend by keeping youngsters with seemingly unlimited potential off the pitch and keeping himself in the United starting lineup.

Seven goals for the season is not spectacular in the slightest.

But six goals since Christmas definitely is, especially with the depth of talent that United has up front.

Berbatov should play on as long as he has the skill to find the back of the net and as long as he is the most likely man to win games for United.

Which, as it stands, he most certainly is.

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