Manchester United: Wayne Rooney, Chicharito Show Leaves Berbatov Role in Doubt

Despite the nervy finale, Manchester United were back to their vintage best at times last night against Marseille in the Champions League as they won 2-1. 

Described as "unbelievable" by manager Sir Alex Ferguson, young Mexican striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez combined with Wayne Rooney brilliantly to notch yet another brace in his rapid rise to Red Devils stardom. 

Seen on the surface as simple tap-ins, it was pace, movement, timing of his well-worked forward runs to lose his marker and his positioning to apply the finishes that made both of Chicharito's goals so special.

However, it wasn't just Chicharito who led United to success, with Wayne Rooney playing the man behind the scenes role, just like he has at times for Dimitar Berbatov in the Premier League.

Obviously the whole team played their part, with the underrated Michael Carrick holding the midfield line and tracking back well, and Chris Smalling looking far more the experienced man than his centre-back partner Wes Brown.

Antonio Valencia also made a big difference when he came on, with his eye for an intricate pass creating the second goal, while his overall ability to keep the ball and slow the tempo of play vital in controlling the increasing threat from Marseille towards the end of the game.

But mainly it was the effortlessly brilliant partnership of Rooney and Chicharito which led to United's win.

And it was a well-thought out partnership put together by Sir Alex, who played Rooney in a deeper role in between the defensive and midfield opposition lines.

This made him very difficult for Marseille to pick up in open play, because if a centre-back marked him they'd leave a gap in defence for Hernandez to exploit, but if a midfielder picked him up there'd be a gap in midfield and the chance for someone like Paul Scholes to bomb forward and take advantage of the extra space.

So instead the Ligue 1 side gave Rooney space between the lines and tried to block off his options, which was the best option to use for a side who don't have the most stellar defence.

But with Rooney's ever increasing passing ability, combined with Chicharito's energy and movement off the ball, it was always going to be a tough task to stop United breaking through.

Speaking of Rooney's passing ability, the England forward is excelling, and more importantly, enjoying playing in a new role behind the frontman and using the whole range of his passing.

At times he was a bit too eager to pass, looking to play the ball out wide for a better chance instead of shooting himself, and often he looked to make that Hollywood pass, which came off most of the time, but was sometimes unnecessary (e.g. his cross-pitch pass to Nani).    

Overall though he used his passing range to devastating effect, with Rooney's vision and movement on the ball perfectly complementing Hernandez's off-ball movement, enthusiasm and superbly timed forward runs.

Had Dimitar Berbatov been playing last night however, none of that would've happened, as unlike Hernandez, Berbatov runs towards the ball instead of away from it looking to penetrate the defence.  

And instead of running the channels and opening up defences, Berbatov's off-ball movement leaves a lot to be desired, as he stays quite central and most often relies on his stellar technique and skill to get him past defenders.

He also doesn't track back anywhere near as enough as Hernandez does, which is a massive problem when teams are on the counterattack or United are struggling defensively with the high tempo of the game.

Berbatov cut a forlorn figure on the bench last night, with even Sir Alex and assistant boss Mike Phelan joking about how depressed the Bulgarian looked watching on!

But it's clear that had he played, United might well have not scored two goals, and could well have crashed out of the Champions League if Marseille took the lead, especially considering the French team's tightly packed defence. 

This in turn leaves Berbatov's role for the Red Devils in doubt somewhat.

Of course Rooney and Hernandez can't start every game, and Berbatov is the Premier League's top scorer, so he must add something to the United team surely.

And he does, as written above, with his stellar technique and skill to skip past defenders and finish expertly.

But this is all Berbatov really has in his locker, the ability to create moments of magic. Sounds great, but they're called moments of magic for a reason, i.e. they don't happen often.

Against the bigger teams, like in the Champions League for example, moments of magic are much harder to create, and using skill alone to get past tight defences with some of the best and most experienced defenders in the world just doesn't work.

He may have had his best United season yet, but most of his goals have come against so-called lower opposition, and the consistency in his goalscoring is lacking. It's great scoring five goals a game and a hat trick here and there, but there needs to be an end product the week after as well, and the week after that.

In the business end of the season, when all the big teams and important matches are left to play, it looks like Berbatov's time might be up.

Unlike Hernandez, Berbatov doesn't give much off-ball movement and so can't open up tight defences all that well, he doesn't have consistency in his goalscoring and he doesn't provide an extra option in the penalty area, meaning the team doesn't get the best use out of Wayne Rooney.

While Dimitar Berbatov will have his time in the league against the likes of Bolton Wanderers, his role in the crunch matches in the Champions League, FA Cup and important league matches remains in doubt.

Will the Bulgarian settle for being a luxury substitute, or will he be unable to hack the hay and leave Old Trafford? Only time will tell; if one thing's certain, it's that the Rooney and Chicharito show has somewhat taken the gloss off Berbatov's shining season so far.